Starcraft: Precursor
by Lord22
Summary: A routine assault upon a Sons of Korhal base camp soon spirals into a battle for the fate of Chau Sara. The Lieutenant of Alpha Squadron must face the overwhelming Zerg, and put an end to them. No matter the cost. And on route to the planet the Protoss Fleet looms dangerously... AU
1. Strongarm

**Chapter One:**

 _The moral high ground is extremely important to one's success when conducting a military operation so that it should dominate one's methods of fighting. If the news station shows that a Sons of Korhal colony was attacked and systematically dismantled by Alpha Squadron without provocation, confederate propaganda will be forced to work overtime spinning it._

 _If, however, the news shows that a Sons of Korhal training camp launched an assault upon a confederate base without defiance sent, and was repulsed and destroyed in retribution, the confederate propaganda will spin itself._

 _On the subject of marines, the marine core is the backbone of confederate operations, and essential to virtually any successful strategy. As such it is my view that all due respect should be shown to those brave men and woman who don the suit, brain panned or otherwise. Moreover, when using marines it is unbecoming of a General to not care for their losses. All possible measures should be taken to ensure that their casualties are minimal._

 _An injured Marine will be of little use in an assault, but if reassigned to a recently constructed Bunker could easily be critical to holding ground._

 **-The Lieutenant, Name Unknown, Alpha Squadron**

* * *

Within the well-lit interior of his quarters, the Lieutenant of Alpha Squadron was hard at work writing. He was a tall man with whitish blonde hair. His features were gaunt and he had cold blue eyes that were currently scanning over his blog as he posted a new entry. It was an idle activity, a guideline which he wrote in the hopes that others would heed what he learned.

He wondered if anyone was reading it.

This was far from the first time which Alpha Squadron, had been called in to deal with the Sons of Korhal, and other rebels. They had become quite talented at it, and he made a point of understanding that events outside of the field of conflict were very nearly as important to success as those which occurred in battle.

 _'_ _Adjutant online,'_ said a friendly computer woman's voice over the intercom. _'we have entered into a low orbit over Chau Sara, and are preparing to descend to the planet. Receiving incoming transmission.'_

Magistrate Collins was a mustached man of moderate height, who was wearing a black officers uniform, setting him in sharp contrast to the Lieutenant's marine suit. His uniform was emblazoned with several medals for valor. Even through the view screen, the differences between the two men were clear.

'Ah, Lieutenant it appears you've arrived just in time.' he said in a fringe world drawl. 'as you well know, the renegades calling themselves the Sons of Korhal have been working for months to undermine confederate authority in the fringe colonies.' He paused for effect, perhaps expecting a response. 'Well they're on Mar Sara now, and I'd like to take care of them without involving the local MilitThat'shats where your Alpha Squadron Boys come in.' He is voice became dark. 'There are to be no arrests, Lieutenant. I hope you understand what I mean. I want this problem solved once and for all.'

The Lieutenant nodded wordlessly.

'Good hunting,' said Collins, before he cut the channel.

* * *

The sun beat down on an Alpha Squadron outpost on Chau Sara, reflecting off of the surface off the visors of the many ranks of white clad marines who arrayed themselves on the asphalt, ready for battle. Their guns were of the finest make that General Duke could afford on a limited budget, their armor the thickest and strongest which could be found. It was not state of the art, but it was more than sufficient for their purposes.

Upon arrival in Chau Sara, discipline had been immediately instilled upon the militia by Alpha Squadrons presence. Magistrate Collins had been admirably efficient about arranging food supplies and a military landing zone to facilitate their operations. Interestingly enough, the Lieutenant had noted that all the militia were on bases far away from the Sons of Korhal. Had Magistrate Collins feared Mengsk had corrupted his forces? Or was there another enemy from whom he did not want to distract the militia.

Whatever the case, the Lieutenant of Alpha Squadron had ordered scans conducted of the planets surface, and after a few hours had found its location. Setting up his base camp some two miles west of the Sons of Korhal training facility, assembling his forces took most of the day. Scanning the horizon revealed a motley assortment of trees, barren plains of packed dirt, and a series of rocky cliffs and plateaus which prevented him from getting a direct sight upon the Sons of Korhal forces.

From the looks of things Alpha Squadron would have to find their natural enemies the old fashioned way. Mentally ordering his brain panned marines from their formation, the Lieutenant set a defensive parameter with half of them as sandbags were arranged. The bulk of his forces were still arriving, so he sent a man to march around the outskirts of the base, looking through his eyes as he did so. The man halted, and saw in the distance a red clad marine.  
He was out of range. He was also a scout.

Perfect.

Making sure he was seen, he returned to the camp, and began to await the arrival of the rest of his soldiers. This outpost had been built among the walls of an abandoned mining base, created by the Kel'morian Combine for defense before its defeat in the Guild Wars. It was easy to defend against attacks. Now all he had to do was wait. The Sons of Korhal were training soldiers here, which meant they expected to use them. And what better use but attacking Alpha Squadron.

'Excuse me, Lieutenant.' said Michael Liberty.

Wonderful, the last person the Lieutenant wanted to speak to had managed to find his way here. He'd forgotten that they were being monitored, which meant that Alpha Squadron had to be on its best behavior. He looked to Private Emily Swallow. 'You let him down here?'

'I'm supposed to escort him.' she said. 'Not call the shots.'

'Very well.' said the Lieutenant 'Ask, and I will answer. Provided something more important doesn't turn up.' As he spoke a dropship arrived, and many white armored marines walked out of it, taking their places as the Lieutenant assigned them. He needed a strong defense line.

'Mr uh… I'm sorry I don't think I caught your name.' said Michael Liberty lamely.

'My name is unimportant. I am the loyal servant of the Confederacy of Man, that is all you need know.' said the Lieutenant.

'Right, of course.' said Michael Liberty 'Lieutenant, how do you respond to accusations that Alpha Squadron is entirely peopled with criminals?'

'It seems to me rather redundant.' admitted the Lieutenant 'One might as well say the sky is blue on some planets. If the critics of the Confederacy of Man are going to make accusations, I might suggest they find some which hold some degree of weight.' Mentally he had some of the crew take up SCV duty, and assigned them to working the mine. The profits could pay for the campaign.

'Thats a yes then,' said Michael Liberty 'may I ask why the defenders of the Confederacy must consist entirely of former serial killers and psychotics? You understand that folks back home are concerned about the stability of such… measures.'

'In the case of Omega Squadron, I am inclined to agree.' realized the Lieutenant 'As for Alpha Squadron, there have been attempts in the past to recruit new soldiers from citizens. However due to… early misfortune, we never attracted many willing volunteers. Consequently the vast majority of our soldiers have been brain panned.'

'Isn't the technical term neurally resocialized-'

'Resocialized is not a word.' replied the Lieutenant firmly. 'By using that nonsensical combination of sounds from your mouth you are supporting men who get paid thousands of credits per a year simply to come up with jargon such as that. And I want you to stop.'

'Sorry,' said Michael Liberty flinching back. 'at any rate, what is the mission for today?'

'The Sons of Korhal have set up a training operation in the area.' said the Lieutenant 'We're going to raze it to the ground.'

'…So we're the aggressor then?' surmised Michael Liberty, looking a little green at the prospect.

'Of course not.' replied the Lieutenant patiently. 'Shots have yet to be fired. No battle is as of yet taking place. Once the Sons of Korhal attack us, we will burn their settlement to the ground and kill everyone in it.'

'Isn't that a bit much?' asked Michael, sounding a little disturbed.

'Read Caesars Gallic war. You'll find I'm clean.' replied the Lieutenant flatly. 'Emily Swallow, I would very much appreciate it if you escorted Michael Liberty somewhere else. Where I am not about to fight a battle.'

'Yes sir.'

One marine suited fist closed over Michael Liberty's shoulder. 'Come sir, its not safe here.'

As the Lieutenant turned his mind to preparing for battle, he suddenly received a report:

 _'Sir, one of our dropships was shot down while flying down.'_ said a soldier. _'We went to rescue them, and found everyone dead. The wreckage shows signs of gauss weaponry consistent with the Sons of Korhal but the crew... they were all dead but they didn't die in the crash. Whatever it was it wasn't a human that did this._ _They were torn apart, cut to pieces. Its like they were savaged by some kind of wild animal pack. But what kind of animal could break marine armor?'_

'Very well.' said the Lieutenant 'Return to base. We'll make ready for our assault despite their loss.'

The sun was low in the sky, and the land was beginning to be covered in red light. The marines were getting restless as they stood at the ready. The waiting before a battle was perhaps the worst part of all and it passed at a snails crawl. Hours of endless boredom ticked by, until you had a few minutes of terror. Or so the Lieutenant had heard, he had not had personal experience of the terror part of it. Not in his memory, anyway.

Then the attack came. In the distance the Lieutenant saw a great host of red clad marines marching forward, guns readied. At their front were many men armed with flamethrowers. They had no particular formation, and the Lieutenant doubted they knew what they were getting into. Mentally calling to the soldiers, he had them ready their weapons and lower them. Silence dragged on as the red army drew closer and closer. Then it was within range.

Lieutenant ordered the attack. As one Alpha Squadron opened fire with a noise like thunder, and the front ranks of the enemy were torn to pieces by the intensity of the barrage. The others rushed forward, losing men the whole time as they tried to get into range. By the time they were able to return fire, the magic of U 238 shells had done its work well. Even as they got within range, their lack of order saw great casualties before they could focus their fire. One section of the Sons of Korhal would get in range and begin fire, as the others behind them stumbled to get around their comrades. By the time they succeeded, their comrades were dead.

Alpha Squadron, in contrast, was clean, orderly and efficient. A few men fell dead from the sprays of red clad fire, but they were replaced.

Screams echoed from the red clad marine as their assault faltered. Finally the remnant turned and fled out of range. Their comrades bodies littered the field, as guns smoked.

'Follow them,' said Lieutenant, sending his will out to his forces. The Lieutenant mentally cued up perhaps half of his marines and began to lead them forward after the red clad enemies. As they marched into the cliffs, they suddenly found around the next corner another host of red armored marines following behind the second. Lieutenant lowered his weapon and gunned down two of the enemies as his comrades followed suit.

A few terrible moments of bloodshed ensued as half the enemy fell, claiming only a few of Alpha Squadron. Then they were fleeing again, and Alpha Squadron was pursuing with a vengeance. Very soon victory would be theirs! The Lieutenant smiled in anticipation of his enemies destruction.

* * *

Amidst the garrison units, Rockmore scanned over the barren lands surrounding with binoculars. He was a bulky man with a scarred face and a bald head. He was a veteran of the Guild Wars, and he'd now been relegated to guard duty. He really needed something shoot. As continued scanning, he noticed a dust cloud. Zooming in which his binoculars, he saw many things the size of dogs running towards them. Yet they had no hair, and their teeth were sharp. Long blades were on their backs, and their feet were clawed. Rockmore opened a communication, and readied his gun. 'Sir, we've got incoming, and I'll be damned if I can identify em!'

Then he lowered his gun.

 _'_ _Whatever they are, you must destroy them Lieutenant. That is a direct order.'_ Said Magistrate Collins, knowing something they didn't.

All Rockmore needed to hear. 'Lock and load boys! Lets wax these critters!'

The sound of gauss fire was heard throughout the land as Alpha Squadron's non brain panned division opened fire en masse.

* * *

The Lieutenant was almost disappointed in the Confederacy of Man. They finally make contact with an alien species and their first communication with it was going to be through shrapmetal to the face? This did not bode well for the future.

'All advance forces wheel about.' said the Lieutenant 'We'll catch them in a pincer movement.'

They quickly retread their steps in the beating sun as the sound of gunfire echoed throughout the valleys. They found the garrison holding its own, but many purple doglike things were scurrying at them with slavering jaws. They had limbs on their backs with great blades that cleaved men in half, and claws that tore through armor. It seemed they had found the creatures responsible for slaying the crew of their dropships.

Yet Lieutenant and his men caught them from the flank and opened fire, tearing them to pieces in moments. The com flared up as the last of them were destroyed. _'Recon Squad Cerberus reporting, we're here to oversee the extermination of these xenomorphs and contain the spread of any hostile infestation in this colony.'_

 _'_ _Why wasn't I informed of this?'_ Asked Collins in reply. _'Confederate command never-'_

 _'_ _We have our own orders, Magistrate.'_ Came the reply. _'We don't answer to you. I suggest we get on with this mission.'_

With the xenomorphs in this area defeated, for now, the Lieutenant brought his forces north over the barren fields of dirt and scrub grass to meet up with Cerberus Squadron. It was hardly a Squadron, so much a series of loosely affiliated elite Soldiers. Many of them wore prototype Firebat Suits which had never gone mainstream due to cost. The others held the original goliath design, which had been downgraded to an inferior version after the Confederate Officials saw the price tag.

Both versions were several times more deadly than their descendants. In fact Cerberus Squadron had been founded specifically because they wanted someone to pilot the suits, rather than leave them in cold storage.

Lieutenant said nothing, as was his custom, communicating his instructions to Cerberus Squadron mentally. Their firebats took up a position in the front of his marines, whilst the goliaths followed up behind them. As they marched through the pass on the way to their destination, the Sons of Korhal met them halfway.

This time they had brought firebats, and there were a terrifying few minutes as all hell broke loose. Squads of red armored flamethrower Infantry charged Alpha Squadron and were gunned down mid stride. One got within range, only to be burned to cinder by Cerberus Squadron. Sons of Korhal Marines fired desperately, seeking what cover they could amongst the rocks but in vain. The goliaths and marines mowed them down, long before any kind of charge could be staged by cerberus firebats.

Their numbers had been roughly equal. But the Sons of Korhal's weakness was their equipment. Alpha Squadron was severely limited in what weaponry it could access by the Confederacy, who placed a low price tag value on the lives of brain panned Marines. However what upgrades the Lieutenant could get his forces, he always did. U 238 round should have been standard issue, and the extra plating and guns were essential. Proper weaponry could mean the difference between victory and defeat. He'd used his wages to fund the construction of several tech school Academies simply to make sure they were in greater supply.

The rest of the journey was practically unbarred. The Sons of Korhal showed no signs of opposing his advance as they reached the training camp and opened fire. Firebats and marines rushed out of their Barracks to meet the incoming threat, and were mowed down. Several white clad marines were pierced through the face plate and fell dead. An engineering bay was reduced to cinder by the cerberus firebats, as the goliaths sprayed down bullets on the defenders.

SCV's panicked and sought to repair structures, or put out the flames. These two were eradicated by the hand of Alpha Squadron, and steadily the entire facility was purged. Until at last Lieutenant stood at the center of the prodigious carnage, gun half empty. His enemies had fallen.

A soldier approached. 'Sir, as you ordered we checked the dead. Mengsk is not among the fallen.' This was standard procedure for Alpha Squadron.

'No matter,' said the Lieutenant, unsurprised. 'He can't hide from us forever.' He shifted his com to call one of his Officers. 'Captain, report.'

'Sir, we've scouted out the cliffs as you ordered.' said the Captain. 'We ran into some Sons of Korhal on the cliffs. After a brief battle, we killed them all. There are significant reserves of resources here.'

'Very well. I want you to assign SCV's to constructing a new mining operation in this area. We'll use the revenue from it to fund more campaigns. I recommend construction of a barracks and the recruitment of locals in case of hostiles. Raid the jailhouses if you must, but get me new soldiers.'

'Yes sir.'

The Lieutenant lowered his com and began the long journey back to base. Maybe it was just a feeling, but he'd learned to trust his instincts. Somehow he suspected the campaign had only just begun.

* * *

And far above, in the orbit around Chau Sara, Lieutenant Commander Gregory Reikson stared down with irritation. He was a medium sized man, with a large hat and stubble. His uniform was exceedingly fine, and he wore a silver white pistol at his side. His hands were clasped behind his back, as though in contemplation.

There was nothing to contemplate though, really. Alpha Squadron had beaten them to the punch. Omega Squadron had gotten here first, but upon detecting an extraordinary number of Xenomorphs on the planets surface he'd hesitated to send soldiers down there. Now it was too late.

'Ensign, send a transmission to Tarsonis.' Said Reikson 'Tell them that we found and destroyed a Sons of Korhal base camp.'

'Sir, thats not true-' began the ensign.

'Of course not.' admitted Reikson 'But Duke has an extraordinary reputation for failure, so it'll be easy to take credit for it.'

'With respect sir, General Duke isn't even on the planet.' said the Ensign 'His Chief Lieutenant is the one fighting down there.'

'Perfect, mention that we were overseeing operations from space. Our PR team should do the rest, if they know whats for them.'

'I don't like this sir.'

'I'm not asking you to like it. I'm asking you to follow orders!' snarled Reikson, turning on him and setting one hand to his pistol.

'Yes sir.' said the ensign fearfully.

Of course Reikson wasn't going to remain completely uninvolved in the conflict. He'd bide his time, until Alpha Squadron's incompetence had them retreating or pinned down by the creatures. Then Omega Squadron would come in and be hailed as heroes for destroying the xenomorphs.

What could go wrong, really?

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

So I just did a straight up run through of the Terran Campaign, Precursor, and I was really impressed. The way it handles the Confederate defense of Chau Sara perfectly encapsulates the story. It gives a backstory to the Psi Disruptors, and ties into just why Arcturus Mengsk was so interested in getting Alpha Squadron on his side.

Try playing Rebel Yell right after playing Precursor. It seriously changes the entire tone of the story, having seen things from the Confederacy's perspective. Magistrate Collins and the Cerberus Commander really were the good side of the Confederacy, while its far more prominent dark side is seen in the Sons of Korhal Campaign.

Whatever the case, this is my attempt at a novelization. I wanted to portray the Lieutenant as a sort of Alpha Squadron version of a Cerebrate, and individual who handles tactics for the Overmind, who in this case is General Edmund Duke. That said, the Lieutenant is by no means stupid, he is every bit the tactician which players have to be to win the campaign. He is also in possession of telekinesis of a sort, used mostly to coordinate his Soldiers.

As for what Omega Squadron is doing here, I have some ideas which will help with the tone of the story later. Bear with me, please.

As for Michael Liberty's presence, he was sent to document Alpha Squadron operations on Chau Sara. Alpha Squadron _didn't_ arrive too late to the party, it was there for virtually the entire war. So I decided to include him, mostly because I like his bodyguard Private Emily Swallow. I found her character to be the best part of Liberty's crusade by far, being an interesting character despite being a brain panned psycho killer. She even gets a dying moment of awesome knife fighting a Hydralisk, which ends in a double KO, so I was pretty much reading the book for her.  
I hope Liberty was in character. When I read the book, I never really got a sense of who he was, or what he wanted, or what his personality was. He was just… not the Magistrate. Which is ironic, since the Magistrate clearly has more personality than him, despite being a player character. Why? Because the Magistrate makes choices. The Magistrate chooses to trust Arcturus Mengsk, rather than doom the colony to Confederate inaction. The Magistrate chooses to continue on to become a Rebel Commander. The Magistrate chooses to defect alongside Raynor, and then interestingly enough, to abandon the cause. All these choices give us a pretty clear character arc for the Magistrate, which Michael Liberty frankly lacks. The details of interpretation are up to us.

 **Edit:**

Made some more alterations to events. Gave the Sons of Korhal a bit of a victory by having them blow up a transport en route to the surface. Figured it would be better if they made a fight of it.

 **Double Edit:**

Added a scene with Lieutenant Rockmore from Rebel Yell. Took some steps to add a bit more life to the world.


	2. The Gauntlet

**Chapter Two: The Gauntlet**

 _'The invasion is proceeding as planned and our warrior broods are driving the terrans before us. There is some minor resistance, but they are but a nuisance. Soon this mineral rich world shall be a bastion for the swarm.'_

 ** _'There remains a problem, Zasz. As the Overmind has been unlocking the secrets of the terrans' biology, so too do they seek to comprehend us. I have located a facility where the terrans are conducting most of their research. If they succeed, they could prove a serious threat. You must not allow them to leave here alive.'_**

 _'By the will of the Overmind, it shall be done!'_

So it was that the Cerebrate Zasz commanded the swarm assault the terran facility known as the Flannum Installation, and established a mighty hive cluster atop it. Drones were sent forth to establish a new colony, while the warrior strains advanced to wipe clean the Alpha Squadron base camp which had been established.

* * *

 _Cerberus Commander,_

 _In light of the increasing xenomorph presence on Chau Sara, the Confederacy of Man has decided that our first priority is the retrieval of all data pertaining to the creatures. Go to the Flannum Institute, and extract the scientists. Then bring them back to Tarsonis._

 _These are your orders._

Such simple orders, that had become so complicated so very quickly. The Cerberus Commander had found the Flannum Insitute overrun with xenomorphs and was unable to even approach it, thanks to the colonies which had been established on the cliffs above. Even now the creatures were sending drones to establish a secondary colony.

So the Cerberus Commander made contact with General Edmund Duke. Duke sent him the Lieutenant, and the Cerberus Commander hoped things could proceed normally.

Had he but known it, they were about to go even further off the rails.

* * *

 _A failure to know your enemy is a failure of command._

 **-Lieutenants log, name unknown.**

* * *

In a recently established Alpha Squadron base camp, Lieutenant arrived with his forces and found Cerberus Squadron soldiers waiting for them. It was a heavily fortified base, guarding the approach to Los Andares from the northwest. Bunkers stood at the forefront, and countless missile turrets had been set on the cliffs above, turning to scan for flyers. They had also been placed to the south of the river, and set behind the bunkers. It was, perhaps, overkill, but the Lieutenant had ordered the best of everything. He would be facing an unknown entity, and he would not take chances.

His soldiers quickly took their positions, and two marines walked with him to the entrance to the command center. He glanced to them. 'Wait here.'

They saluted.

He walked onwards into the command center and made his to the elevator. Pressing a button, he waited for the doors to open. When they did, he entered and punched in the code for the second floor. All command centers were built from the same basic design, and meetings of this importance were always held in the same place.

It was a round room in the dead center of the second floor. There was only one entrance, and on the walls, there was the banner of the Confederacy of Man. A round table stood at the center of the room. Sitting at it was Magistrate Collins, with a number of files in front of him. Standing across from him was a bald dark haired man with a cybernetic eye dressed in a Cerberus Squadron Commanders uniform. He eyed Lieutenant with a pragmatic gaze as he approached.

'Greetings again, Lieutenant,' said Collins 'I know you're anxious for some answers about those creatures. Suffice to say they are the subject of current high-level research.' His expression became pensive as he glanced to the Cerberus Commander. 'We had quarantined a number of these creatures for study, however, shortly after your arrival all communication with the Flannum Institute was lost.' He paused and picked up the files, and passed them out. 'What I have here is all the data I've been authorized to provide you regarding the xenomorphs, we believe they operate on a hive mind, similar to ants. They have a variety of different warrior strains which you've encountered one of today.'

Lieutenant read through several of the files. 'Zergling? Hydralisk? Sunken colony? Where do these names come from?'

'Me and my wife.' admitted Collins 'Sort of a hobby, y'know.'

'Enough,' said the Cerberus Commander 'the Flannum installation has been compromised. And our preliminary scans indicate that the area is crawling with hostiles. My Cerberus unit will handle the situation inside, however, we will require Alpha Squadron's assistance getting there. Any further information is on a strict need to know basis.'

'I understand,' said Lieutenant bowing his head. 'Adjutant, initiate a scanner sweep of the area. Find where the creatures are located most densely.'

'Initiating scan…' said the computer. 'Lieutenant, my scanners are picking up a hive like a mass of organic matter to the west of our position, over the river. It also appears that the xenomorphs have created a far larger colony on the cliffs above the Flannum Institute.'

'I see,' said Lieutenant 'then we'll destroy them first.'

The Cerberus Commander eyed him. 'Your orders were to escort us to the Institute.'

'Yes, and the xenomorph colonies will be a constant threat to that mission.' replied Lieutenant simply. 'Annihilating the xenomorph presence on Chau Sara is the ideal method of ensuring a safe extraction.'

'Warning:' said Adjutant 'I am detecting a large force of xenomorphs converging on our position from the north.'

Lieutenant set down the files and released the safety on his gun. 'If you will excuse me.'

He rushed out of the command center and made it to the defenses just as the enemy were converging. The xenomorphs came upon them in great monstrous tides. The whole of the landscape was filled with their screeching bodies. The sound of gauss fire broke out as the Lieutenant joined his comrades in firing. There was no need to aim, one could not shoot without hitting something. The Cerberus Goliaths opened fire with their machineguns, killing great droves of the enemy.

The enemy died in great droves, yet each wave that fell was replaced with another. Finally, they reached the defenses. The Cerberus Firebats here proved their worth. Their flamethrowers roared to life, reducing the approaching creatures to ashes. The light of their fires, and the smoke of their enemies burning reached to high heaven.

And still, the enemy came on.

'Lieutenant,' said the Adjutant over the com. 'I am detecting multiple flyers approaching from the north.'

The Lieutenant looked up and saw them flying towards them. They were like leeches with dragon wings and long orange bodies. They screeched as they descended on the turrets. The missiles were launched in great droves and many of the enemies were destroyed in moments, exploding into great fireworks of blood. Yet there were many more where that came from, and they hurled blades of some organic substance at the turret. They tore through metal and continued on to strike other turrets. Several of the armored defenses were torn to ribbons until they exploded.

They would be overwhelmed.

'Goliaths,' said Lieutenant 'go to the top of the cliffs and drive off those creatures!'

'Affirmative.' said the Goliaths, before lumbering up to add their missiles to the anti air.

Turning his attention back to the ground defense, Lieutenant was satisfied to see that the smaller creatures had almost all been killed. None of his own men had died yet, the Cerberus Firebats had done their work well. Then came snake like creatures with mandibles and arms with great single claws at the end. They slithered towards the defenses, spewing spikes which cut down several marines where they stood.

A withering barrage of gauss fire was the marines response, and many of the creatures were torn apart. It was fortunate that these creatures had no real formation or strategy, or else they would have surely been overwhelmed. As it was, there were a number of casualties before they were able to defeat them. Finally the last of them fell.

The bodies numbered in the tens of thousands. The corpses covered the ground before them completely. In front of the bunkers there was a veritable mountain of corpses piled high. The stench of death made the less experienced want to retch. Yet Lieutenant kept his head.

'Adjutant, are there any further life signs approaching us?' asked Lieutenant.

'Affirmative,' said the Adjutant 'however they will not arrive for at least two hours.'

'We should use this time to enter the facility and get out.' said the Cerberus Commander.

'No.' said Lieutenant 'If we leave these colonies standing, they will threaten Los Andares next. We'll burn these creatures out before we go any further. Bring up the Goliaths and Firebats, you will be our vanguard.'

The Cerberus Commander narrowed his eyes. 'Very well. However if my units are neutralized and the mission fails as a result, I will make sure you are held accountable.'

Mentally calling up his marines, Lieutenant led the task force out of the base and over the bridge at a fast pace. It took perhaps ten minutes for them to cross fully over to the other side. Then they were making their way forward towards a distant structure. It was a living structure, like an organic vulcano built in the shadow of a great mountain. It was pulsing without end, and countless xenomorphs were clustered around it. As Alpha Squadron approached they turned and screeched, before rushing at them.

Alpha Squadron opened fire en masse, and slaughtered them by the hundreds. More came from behind the mountain. Yet these too were eradicated without mercy, gunned down. Many large creatures could be seen mining the rocks, and these were shot dead without orders. Finally there was nothing left but bloodied corpses. Lieutenant looked around. Some ways away there was a pool of green liquid covered with a film of a fleshy transparent substance. Approaching it, he stuck the barrel of his gun into it, before lifting it up.

Looking to the organic vulcano, he saw many eggs embedded into its surface. Within them he could see more of the creatures forming by the hundreds. 'Burn it all.'

The eggs were smashed. The hatchery was set aflame. Explosives were tossed down into the pool, and the explosions sent the walls collapsing in on itself. Finally when it was destroyed, Lieutenant marched his men north, seeking the source of where the enemy had come from. He found another bridge, and crossing over it followed the rocky earth until he once again found himself at the base.

'These creatures have the ability to communicate over long distances.' concluded Lieutenant. 'They know to send reinforcements.' He opened a communication mentally to the Norad II. 'General Duke sir, opposition is far stronger than we anticipated. I'd like to request additional forces to finish the assault.'

 _'_ _Alright then,'_ said Duke _'I'll see what I can wrangle up. Course, Rockmore is launching assaults of his own.'_

'Warning,' said Adjutant 'enemy life forms approaching base.'

'Take combat positions!' cried Lieutenant 'Nothing gets through!'

Once again the xenomorphs rushed at them in a host even greater than before. And once again they were slaughtered by the thousands. The assault lasted perhaps an hour, with reinforcements arriving to swell the ranks of the xenomorphs several times. At once point there was a lull in the fighting, during which the Adjutant detected a great force of xenomorph flyers gathering just beyond range. Lieutenant launched and assault on them, shooting them from the sky with his marines before their full strength could be gathered. No sooner had they defeated one group of flyers when another came to take its place.

Had they not moved when they had, they would have surely been overwhelmed.

'This is hopeless.' said the Cerberus Commander 'We should be focusing on the mission, not dragging our forces into a war of attrition.'

'My concern is for the safety of the colony,' said Lieutenant 'not just the scientists.'

'The knowledge the scientists possess could save hundreds of colonies.' said the Cerberus Commander 'And every moment we waste here increases the possibility of fatalities among them.'

Lieutenant had no answer at first. Then he turned and saw Michael Liberty making his way towards him. And Lieutenant realized that he was honestly glad to see him.

'Lieutenant sir,' said Liberty 'I've heard reports of heavy fighting. Can I get a statement? What can you tell me about the enemy?'

'We have no time for-' began the Cerberus Commander, however he stopped when Lieutenant raised his hand.

'Its an unknown species,' stated Lieutenant 'information is limited. What is clear however, is that they are hostile. Their first contact was launching an assault on Alpha Squadron while it was carrying out operations against the Sons of Korhal. Its unclear if there is a connection at this time, however what is apparent is that these monsters are hostile.

Alpha Squadron is working to annihilate their hive clusters at the moment to ensure the continued safety of Chau Sara. We are also cooperating with Cerberus Squadron to evacuate a group of scientists who have been trapped behind enemy lines.'

'Thank you,' said Michael Liberty, before turning to the camera. 'heroic words from the heroic men of Alpha Squadron.

 _'_ _This is Duke,'_ said General Duke _'the reinforcements you requested are inbound.'_

Shuttles arrived and landed before Lieutenant, kicking up dust and sending his hair flowing around him as additional forces marched out of the ships in great ranks. Assembling themselves before the Lieutenant, they saluted.

Lieutenant returned the gesture then directed them to march away.

As they did so, appearing on camera the Cerberus Command approached Lieutenant. 'Lieutenant, you were not given permission to speak to the press.'

'I didn't have time to ask for your permission,' replied Lieutenant with a shrug. 'and it was an opportunity we could not miss.'

'Explain yourself.' said the Cerberus Commander.

Lieutenant sighed. 'I've read the history of the Confederacy. I'm aware of what our glorious government programmed me to remember, and I know it doesn't add up. The primary reason our dominance of the sector is contested isn't because we lack the military might. It is because for all our military power we have never held the hearts and minds of the people.

Until now,' he smiled 'as of this moment we are now the heroes. Defending the populace from a terrible and ravenous scourge which only we can defeat. It more or less spins itself.

However if a xenomorph is shot in Chau Sara and nobody gets to hear about it, does it make a screech?'

The Cerberus Command looked at him with narrowed eyes. '…I will be writing a full report regarding this. You should hope that the High Command shares your perspective.' There was a threat in his tone, and Lieutenant was vaguely aware that he was dealing with a very dangerous person.

Even so he pressed on northwards, his men marching beneath the beating sun, their guns held high. Then suddenly xenomorphs, hundreds of them, broke out of the ground and rushed them. An ordinary military unit would have been taken by surprise. However Lieutenants men were all brain panned, and his mind was linked to theirs via a psychic bond. He reacted quickly, and so they did as well.

In unison they gunned down the beasts in a great swath, leaving their bodies torn to shreds on the ground. Then they marched onwards. At a bridge crossing a river, they met flyers that were shot from the sky. So it was as they continued. They found constant small groups of xenomorphs who would burst from the ground to try and attack them. They found consistent resistance as they pressed on into the highlands and walked throughout the hills. A marine was torn to shreds when he was ambushed by a snake creature, only for the best to be burned alive. A group of the dog creatures fell upon some of Alpha Squadrons soldiers and killed three before they were annihilated.

They did not meet any serious resistance, but the minor ambushes took something of a toll. Then as they came out of the highlands and began to march along the river, they suddenly were faced with a massive group of xenomorphs who charged them. There was a tense moment as the Lieutenant established his formation and then the enemy were annihilated.

So the systematic destruction of the xenomorphs continued until at last they came to the base of a hill. Above it they could see the xenomorphs many structures. Lieutenant somehow knew it would not be an easy battle, and he hesitated to act.

'The Flannum Installation is not far,' said the Cerberus Commander. 'we don't need to engage these creatures.'

'Men,' said Lieutenant 'prepare for an assault.'

The assault was bloody. As Alpha Squadron scaled up the hill, practically their entire front rank was devastated by tentacles which tore out of the ground and ripped through the soldiers. Their comrades moved forward and opened fire upon the sunken masses of dark flesh which were sending the tentacles at them. hydralisks and zerglings rushed to support them, forcing the marines to turn their fire to keeping them off. And all the while casualties mounted, as Alpha Squadron became jammed into a chokepoint.

'Press forward!' cried Lieutenant, remembering the term for the sunken masses. 'Focus your fire on the sunken colonies!'

The marines obeyed, and after a terrible few minutes of dying and fruitless gunfire, the sunken colonies began to shrivel up and die beneath the waves of impaler rounds. Blood poured from them as they collapsed in on themselves and attacked no more. When the last of them fell, the tide turned and Alpha Squadron advanced into the colony itself.

Every egg was smashed, every structure was reduced to shreds of burned flesh. Explosions echoed as the entire hive was laid to waste. Finally Alpha Squadron rested, as the fleshy ground beneath their feet receded.

'Lieutenant, I am detecting no further xenomorph life forms in the area.' said Adjutant 'And the creatures in the surrounding area have gone dormant. It appears that victory is ours.'

'Area secure,' said Lieutenant over the com. 'Cerberus Squadron, you may proceed when ready.'

Victory had come at a high cost. Hundreds of Alpha Squadron marines had died in the assault. They had taken with them endless thousands of xenomorphs, and destroyed two of the creatures colonies. Yet Lieutenant knew that he could have avoided this, had he simply ignored the hives. Yet he shook these thoughts away. This was about more than just PR, these creatures needed to be stopped. Ignoring these hives would only allow them to continue operating. And destroying them would prove the Confederacy's good intentions to the populace.

'Sir,' said a soldier 'tac team has reached the installation. You watch things out here. We'll take care of things inside.'

That didn't sound too difficult.

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

Well here we have the extremely belated second chapter to this fic. I guess I found the reaction a bit underwhelming, so I sort of lost interest. I figure I'm going to make this into a series that will go into Rebel Yell. For now, however, we have the second mission of the precursor campaign.

Except not really. See the truth is I've always thought the Chau Sara missions were way too easy for what was supposed to be a hopeless war. So I modded this mission, I went into the files, and changed the AI's difficulty to Insane so I'd have a proper challenge.

Of course once I did that I actually had to balance the mission. See the zerg don't have a restricted tech tree in the Chau Sara missions. On their default AI setting they simply don't use most of their options. As a result playing the mission with the AI on insane means that its nigh impossible to win, since you've got marines and firebats, and the enemy is building huge armies of guardians.

I actually did manage to win it. But I couldn't destroy the larger of the two bases and if I hadn't slipped the Cerberus Firebats into the installation I probably would have lost.

The point is, my writing of this chapter is based off of fighting an insane AI, not the actual vanilla mission.

The Lieutenant got a bit more development in this chapter. I've got plans for him which should be gradually revealed, assuming I get that far.

 **Edit:**

Changed the intro from descriptive text to a conversation between Zsaz and Daggoth. I figured giving them some screen time would be a decent idea, so I ran with it.

 **Double Edit:**

Extended the scene with Collins to give his character a little more life. Corrected a typo of mine which refers to Zasz as Zsaz. Dear god I hate that name. I'm going to have to go through the entire fic and fix every single time that name appears, because I'm been spelling it wrong all this time. Anyway, I'd like to thank Hawki for pointing it out, and giving me some serious critiques.


	3. The Den of the Beast

**Chapter Three: The Den of the Beast**

 _'Mighty Overmind, a terran military force calling themselves Alpha Squadron are descending to rampage across Chau Sara. They have annihilated our bastion above the Flannum Institute and even now wage a war of destruction across our hives. Many smaller colonies have fallen to them already. The forces you seeded in the atmosphere have been all but wiped out, and Chau Sara has nearly been retaken by their first wave!'_

 _ **'Peace Zasz, for the swarms are more numerous than the stars, and all who seek to oppose us will fall before our onslaught. For now you are to continue your assault on the Flannum Institute with what forces remain to you. Daggoth shall bring forth the full might of the swarm from our other worlds beyond this sector, and against that power the terrans will not long stand.** '_

The Overmind could sense their elites entering the facility to retrieve the scientists. The Overmind was greatly displeased by this turn of events and disappointed with his sons failure. However he still controlled his primary hives on the planet, and he already knew well the way by which he should defeat these terrans, should Zasz fail. The swarm would prevail.

What he was more interested in was the power which had arisen upon Chau Sara to challenge the swarm...

* * *

Michael Liberty's news report hit the sector by storm over the past few weeks. Across channels and computers, the reports of alien invaders flashed across screens. Details of the terrible atrocities inflicted by the aliens against innocent colonists and the heroic actions of Alpha Squadron could be read on every news site.

Gregory Reikson was furious. He'd been sitting in orbit, waiting for the chance to show Alpha Squadron up. Instead, he'd found himself watching as Duke's new golden boy became a media sensation overnight. Suddenly Alpha Squadron were heroes, and Omega Squadron was left in the dust.

Worse still, it didn't look like they were going to lose anytime soon.

He paced back and forth in his office. 'Who the hell is this guy?! Where did Duke get him?!' He looked up to his aid. 'I need information on this Lieutenant guy, whats his name, whats his home address. Anything you can find on him.'

'Sir…' said the aid. 'Shouldn't we intervene in the Chau Sara conflict?'

'What so Duke can lord his success over us?' asked Reikson 'If we go down there now, we won't get any of the glory. We'll waste money and manpower defending those dirt farmers, and get a foot note in the tabloids for our trouble.

No, we're going to wait for Alpha Squadron to get in over its head, or until we are specifically ordered to intervene.'

'But people are dying, sir.'

'People are a resource we have plenty of.' replied Reikson.

* * *

Within the Sons of Korhal command ship, Hyperion, the news reel played out before their eyes, as Michael Liberty did the story of a lifetime. 'For now, the aliens appear to have lost cohesion, with their recent staggering defeats by the Lieutenant of Alpha Squadron. However how long this uneasy peace may last is an open question, considering that we know almost nothing about these creatures.

Magistrate Collins of Chau Sara had this to say:

Magistrate Collins was speaking from what appeared to be an Alpha Squadron military base, and had the flag of the Confederacy behind him. 'Given the recent string of victories, I am confident that peace will be restored to Chau Sara within a few months with the continued support of the Confederacy of Man.'

Arcturus Mengsk turned off the television and sat back in his chair to bitterly contemplate events. He was a tall broad shouldered man with a black beard and tan skin. He was dressed in a black leather trench coat, and dark gloved hands were clasped together. 'Well, this has been a bitter string of defeats.'

'I checked our sources,' said Kerrigan, long legged red haired women clad in a brown vest and jeans. 'almost overnight enlistment rates in the confederate armed forces have risen considerably. This Lieutenant of Alpha Squadron has done more damage with one press conference than we've sustained in years.'

'What have we got on him?' asked Arcturus, putting one black gloved hand to his brow.

'Nothing,' said Kerrigan 'no name, no other alias. Background, is blank. Nothing to connect to anyone. Its as if he appeared out of thin air a couple months ago.'

'We can't go on like this.' reflected Arcturus 'Go to Chau Sara and observe the situation. Read some minds, find out something we can use to turn the media war against the Confederacy?'

'Should I kill the Lieutenant?' asked Kerrigan bluntly.

Arcturus considered the matter. 'No,' he said finally 'no I want to know more about him before we make any decisions. Besides, these xenomorphs look like a serious threat to more than just the Confederacy. I'd rather not deprive the innocent people of Chau Sara of their defender unless absolutely necessary.'

'I understand sir.' said Kerrigan 'I'll head there right away.'

She stood up and made her way out of the room. Mengsk, for his part, continued brooding as had become his custom.

* * *

A last second meeting was called in Alpha Squadrons new base camp. It had been constructed on the ruins of the xenomorph hive. The creep, as Collins had named it, which had before been as plain as day had faded into the ground, disappearing like dust in the wind. Now a command center and a barracks had been called down from orbit, and supply depots were being assembled in which the gray goop which was the diet of Alpha Squadron might be created. It was made from a form of genetically engineered moss which grew very quickly, and contained the nutrients a human needed to stay alive.

It was odorless, tasteless and the Lieutenant had just eaten a tube of the stuff for lunch. Now he was meeting Magistrate Collins in person alongside the Cerberus Commander.

'Lieutenant,' said the Commander 'we have access the installations primary bio scanners and ascertained that there is still a number of Confederate Scientists inside.'

'What?!' said Collins 'I'm the only one who has the installations access codes! How did you override my security clearance?!'

'I told you before, Magistrate,' said the Commander 'we don't answer to you. We are to infiltrate the installation, and evacuate any remaining Confederate personnel.' He glanced to his Cerberus Unit. 'Now let's move gentlemen. We're on a tight schedule.'

So the meeting more or less concluded. For his part, the Lieutenant focused on directing his forces to secure the surrounding areas. Several lesser hives were found and eradicated by his hand, working through Lieutenant Rockmore, while Cerberus Squadron was busy.

It passed the time well enough. Then he began to scan through the memories of the Cerberus Commander, to see how he had faired thus far. Lieutenant realized that he could not detect the Cerberus Commander's name, or any other personal information. He had been shielded from intrusion in his innermost thoughts. Even so, he could get a sense of what he was doing and some surface thoughts.

* * *

The inside of the Flannum Installation was a maze of steel gray corridors with a low ceiling. The Cerberus Firebats made their way forward through the Installation's front hall, their heavy boots clanking against the floor. They had not gotten far before suddenly several of the dog creatures rushed round the corner towards them.

Even as the beasts leaped towards them, great plumes of fire were unleashed, reducing the creatures to ashes. 'Watch your backs,' said the Cerberus Commander 'this place must be crawling with xenomorphs.'

Soon they reached a door, and the Commander typed in a security code. 'The security room is just through this door. Once we access the cameras, we should be able to locate any survivors easily enough.'

The door slid away, and the Firebats entered. Finding the console, they switched on the cameras and began to scan through them. 'Sir,' said a Firebat 'we've located the scientists.'

Sure enough through one of the screens, they could see a large group of civilians clustered within a safe room. Outside of it were many creatures, waiting for them. 'Let's move on,' said the Commander 'we'll see if we can locate any security personal and integrate them into our operation.'

As they pressed on through the facility, they encountered various small patches of xenomorphs. These were easily slain, yet they could not shake the feeling that the worst was yet to come. Suddenly they saw a red liquid dripping down from the ceiling, and looking upward they saw a human arm hanging out of the vents.

They pressed on and finally came to a door with several glass windows through it. The Cerberus Commander looked through it, and saw a large force of marines waiting, their hands on their guns. They flinched as they saw the Commander look through, then looked relieved.

'Hey, they must be the rescue unit!' said one 'Open the door!'

The door was opened and the marines came out. 'Boy are we glad to see you, boys. Let's get out of here.'

'Not yet,' stated the Cerberus Commander 'there are still additional personal in this facility in need of evac. We require your assistance in reaching them.'

This dampened their spirits considerably, and they looked a little green. Even, so they were fit to serve. The 'Alright then, sir. We're with you.'

The Cerberus Commander led them away. Their path soon led them down a flight of stairs and into lower levels deep within the earth. As the passage climbed lower and lower, they encountered xenomorphs who rushed at them. However the Cerberus Firebats kept them at bay with a wall of flames, while the marines gunned them down.

Then came the corpses.

Vast numbers of corpses, lying strewn and dismembered across the halls. Marines who had been torn apart, armor and all. Blood stained vents that were broken. Something occurred to the Cerberus Commander. 'When we arrived the doors were intact. How did these creatures infiltrate the facility?'

'They came through the vents.' said a soldier. 'Right about here, actually. Little buggers choked up the fans with their bodies, and the others broke through.'

They went from room to room, door to door, checking everything and killing every xenomorph they could find. Several times they encountered pockets of survivors, who quickly began to follow the Cerberus unit in a great column. At one point they entered a room with a number of corpses, both xenomorph and marine, and found a single marine cowering with his back to a corner.

He looked at them in relief and stepped forward. 'Heh, room secure sir.'

As they continued, they suddenly heard gunfire. Picking up the pace, they rounded a corner to find a force of marines firing into the ranks of a massive swarm of zerg. Rushing to their aid, the task force opened fire and mowed the creatures down in swaths. After a few terrible minutes of gunfire, the numbers of the enemy slackened.

'You boys got here just in time,' said a marine 'lets wax these critters.'

Then the light flickered out and they were left in darkness. Cerberus Commander switched on the light on his flamethrower. 'Turn on flashlights and prepare to continue. Watch your six, there might be more of them around.'

Time seemed to blur and distort as they delved deeper into the earth. Every so often they would be forced to turn and fight off xenomorphs from vents and other halls. The Cerberus Commander led them on without words, scanning every door for any sign of survivors. He meant to bring everyone he could into the light of day. Soon they entered into testing facilities where they could see many glass cases, some of which held xenomorphs in cold storage. Others were broken open, their fluids spilled out over the ground. Several vivisection tables were standing bloodied around, fresh bodies still on them.

'How long have we been down here anyway?' asked a Cerberus Firebat, eyeing the bodies.

'Three hours and thirty seven minutes as of now,' stated the Commander 'this facility is quite extensive.'

'Its been longer for us.' said a marine 'The scientists had a safe room a little ways from here. We should check that.'

'That is our destination.' said the Cerberus Commander.

Pressing on they soon came to a large hall filled with xenomorphs. The creatures rushed them, but were gunned down with practiced ease. A door was to their right, and through the window they could see many civilians standing terrified in a cluster. A marine made his way towards the console, but the Commander caught his hand.

'Not yet,' he said 'we'll clear out the area north of here first.'

It proved fortunate that they did so, for they found many xenomorphs waiting just beyond another door. Even further on they found a large contingent of marines cornered. Their guns were pointing at the door, their expressions fearful as the Commander moved forward.

'We're evacuating this facility.' said the Cerberus Commander 'Take your men and lets move.'

'Right,' said their Captain 'lets move it boys.'

By now they had a veritable army of security personal at their disposal, a little more than a hundred. Moving back to the console, they reached the doors. The Commander came over to it and pressed a few buttons to open the doors.

'Wait!' cried a scientist 'don't open the doors yet!'

It was too late. The sequence had already been initiated, and as the doors closed a screeching was heard. The civilians rushed out the door, swiftly pursued by a force of zerg. Even as the creatures came into the room, however, the civilians had cleared the door and the marines opened fire.

There was a deafening sound like thunder, and the xenomorphs were torn apart.

'Scientists are here, sir.' said a marine. 'Lets get the hell out of here!'

'Marines,' said the Commander 'half of you will escort the scientists and bring up the rear. The rest of you will clear a path to the exit with me.'

The return journey was far less harrowing than the descent. There were some xenomorphs who conspired to bar their path, but these were cleared away with ease by their overwhelming numbers. The Commander had gathered together every soldier and scientist which remained, and their combines firepower was more than sufficient to break through everything the xenomorphs could throw at them.

Within a little less than an hour they had gone through the whole facility and were approaching the doors. Reaching them, the Cerberus Commander typed in the codes and opened the doors. The welcome air of daylight filtered through the doors, illuminating them. A single silhouette of a man stood before them as they made their way out.

As their eyes adjusted, they saw a dark skinned man with a red berets cap clad in a black jumpsuit. In his hands was a sniper rifle, and behind him were a series of dropships. He gave them a friendly smile. 'Gentlemen, I am Samir Duran of the Confederate special forces. I'll be taking custody of the survivors. We'll need to give them a full debriefing.'

The Commander saluted as the marines and scientists made their way into the open and were escorted to the dropships. 'Understood sir. Are we to return to Tarsonis?'

'Not just yet, Commander.' said Duran 'It seems your friend the Lieutenant has aroused the interests of the Confederate High Command. They want to have a go at holding Chau Sara. You are to remain on planet and command the war.'

Cerberus Commander was worried by this news. He did not want to die, and unlike the Lieutenant he was privy to the details of classified deep space scans. 'I see. What resources may I expect to receive?'

'You are to be given Alpha Squadron, of course.' said Duran 'And depending on your performance and the results of the scientists efforts we may send more.' He gave the Commander a look which was not entirely unsympathetic. 'I will, of course, make arrangements for an evacuation of essential personnel in the event that this proves too much for Alpha Squadron.'

'Thank you sir.'

Suddenly they became aware that the Lieutenant was standing some ten feet away and walking towards them, and had been listening in this whole time. Duran turned to face him with an easy appearance, and matched the Lieutenants gaze. Something passed between them, the Commander did not know what. Whatever it was, however, the Lieutenant took a step back in fear. Duran gave him a polite nod. 'Good day to you, Lieutenant.'

Then he turned to walk back to the dropships. As he stepped aboard the dropship he turned to wave. The doors closed and the ships took off, flying into the sky above.

'…Your friend doesn't exist.' said the Lieutenant after a moment.

'He is a ghost,' said the Command ruefully. 'Duran is probably just an alias.'

'No, I don't mean he's not on record.' said the Lieutenant, realizing that he felt very disturbed. 'I mean Samir Duran does not exist. I'm an empath sir, I naturally form connections with everyone I meet. Their minds pass through mine, and I absorb their thoughts into my own. I then give directions to them. I don't even notice it anymore, its like a second language to me. And I'm telling you that in the place where Samir Duran should be there is nothing but a void.'

The Commander considered that. 'Perhaps it is some programed countermeasure, designed to counteract your abilities.'

'Maybe,' said the Lieutenant 'I hope so.' Then there was a beeping on his communicator. 'Yes?'

 _'_ _Get your sorry bastards ready for combat Lieutenant,'_ said Duke _'my boys are picking up massive life signs heading towards Chau Sara's space.'_

'Yes sir,' said the Lieutenant, looking almost relieved for the interruption. 'never a dull moment. Lets meet up with Collins and make a plan of action.'

'Agreed,' said the Commander.

* * *

The moment Kerrigan arrived in Chau Sara she knew things were different. The city of Los Andares was a large one by fringe world standards. An important industrial complex, its skies were filled with a steady stream of smog. Its streets had been filthy the last time Kerrigan had been her, but this time it had changed. Where before had before been buzzing with corruption and laxity, was suddenly very clean in a barely perceptible way. Someone had arranged for the streets to be cleaned, but there was more to it then that. People moved around with a meaningful gait, and worked hard at jobs they had always hated with a satisfaction that had not been present before. There was more laughter as well, more interest in events playing out. The satisfaction that they were part of a greater whole, that their efforts were for the glory of the confederacy.

It wasn't there in any one specific mind, but it was driving people at the back of their thoughts. Kerrigan made her way into the Magistrates HQ, slipping through the weak security and finding the records. Opening the filing records, she drew out the files and set them down at the desk, before beginning to scan through them.

What she found disturbed her. She quickly put the files away and made her way out of the HQ and into the streets. Picking a back alley, she drew out her communicator, she made her report.

'Arcturus, I'm reading the records of Chau Sara before and after the Lieutenant arrived. Everything changed when he got here. Production rates had skyrocketed. People had joined up in the military in far greater rates, while mining teams began hiring additional personnel.

Judging by the numbers a lot of the corrupt officials we were hoping to exploit have given up their evil ways. Its like the guy has his own reality warping bubble.

Oh, and it looks like he's funded the creation of new schools on Chau Sara and Mar Sara. Magistrate Collins seems to have a particular interest in him.'

 _'_ _Could this influence be psionic in nature?'_

'Its possible,' admitted Kerrigan 'when I was a ghost I think I heard something about creating tactical empaths but nothing substantial was ever made. I think.'

 _'_ _I'll check my contacts. I need you to get close to this Lieutenant and scan_ him.' said Arcturus _'The details might be very important.'_

Kerrigan nodded, though she didn't particularly like the idea. 'I understand sir. I'll see what I can do.' Cutting the channel, Kerrigan made her way to a park. The grass here was faded, the trees dying from an endless stream of pollution, and it was a rather depressing place overall. Even so she sat down at a bench, and began to focus, sending out her consciousness to engulf the city. Allowing the thoughts of thousands to pass through her, she searched for information about the Lieutenants whereabouts.

Then she felt something else, a powerful presence looming over her. Opening her mind, Kerrigan suddenly saw a great eye gazing down upon her. It seemed to grow larger and larger until its pupil was larger than her entire body. It seemed to be searching her, judging her, drawing her into itself. It was greater and more terrible than anything she had ever seen. Drawing out her pistol, she pointed it at the eye.

Then it was gone, and she was standing alone in an empty park. Quickly she sheathed her gun. She needed to get out of here.

Then she felt the xenomorphs. They were descending on Los Andares from the northern bridge. They would be here soon!

* * *

The gardens of the Heart of the Conclave were among the most beautiful places on the planet of Auir. Countless plants of all shapes and sizes with dangling vines grew within it. Multicolored flowers gathered from distant stars were bred within it. Trees grew up with elegant shape, changed by psionic impulse to appear more as art than as life. The gardeners were many, and worked endlessly behind the scenes to ensure that the Judicator Class' meeting grounds were among the most majestic places in the universe.

Words could not altogether encapsulate the beauty of this place. For his part, Tassadar made his way through the gardens, taking in the scenes and reflecting that from the moment he had first set foot in this place when he was a boy, it had occupied a special place in his heart. Soon he came to the center, a place with four psionic crystals growing. It was here that he found Judicator Aldaris, dressed in the flowing robes of the Judicator Class.

'En Taro Adun, Tassadar.' said Aldaris.

'En Taro Adun, Aldaris.' said Tassadar. 'What is the will of the conclave?'

'The swarm has begun to invade the terran world of Chau Sara.' stated Aldaris 'It is the belief of the Conclave that the humans will fall shortly. It has been decided that you are to lead a fleet to the human sector and position yourselves over Chau Sara.'

'You would have us aid the terrans then?' surmised Tassadar.

'No,' said Aldaris in a harsh tone. 'the terrans are a depraved and violent race. The Conclave does not believe they are worth saving.'

'Surely that is a rash judgement to make regarding an entire species.' said Tassadar.

'It was not made in haste.' replied Aldaris 'We have observed their nature time and again. Whatever noble qualities they possess are overwhelmed and turned to vile purposes by their greed and bloodlust.'

'Then what is the purpose of this mission, if not to aid the terrans?' asked Tassadar.

'Our observers report that the terran forces are dragging a great many of the zerg reserves into the fray. When the terrans are on the verge of being overwhelmed, and the zerg population has reached its peak you will unleash a planetary bombardment and burn all life from the surface of the world.

In this way we will maximize the zergs casualties, and ensure that they cannot integrate the terrans into the fold.'

'Then we are to kill both sides?' said Tassadar 'Surely there must be another way. Aldaris, you yourself took the humans part when they first came to this sector.'

'I was in error to do so.' replied Aldaris, and Tassadar could feel his regret. 'Prepare the fleet, we leave as soon as you are ready.'

'Yes, Judicator.' said Tassadar, bowing.

The Conclave had found a lesser species and judged that it was unworthy of life. It did not sit right with him. Tassadar put the matter from his mind, for he knew it was not his place to question the judgement of his betters.

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

Well here we have chapter three, and a very eventful chapter it has been. We put out some more details on the Lieutenant, we met Samir Duran, and we saw Kerrigan doing an investigation. Its funny, I had the Lieutenants backstory all planned out, but even as I'm writing this I feel the whole thing shifting.

Oh and Tassadar has appeared at last. Horay!

By the way, I'm thinking about rewriting the Overwind segment to show conversations between the Cerebrates. If I do, I'll tell you so you can check back and reread them.

 **Edit:**

Once again I changed the descriptive text to a conversation among the swarm, this time between the Overmind and Zasz. I felt I ought to give everyones favorite eyeball god a bit of character development.


	4. Force of Arms

**Chapter Four: Force of Arms**

* * *

 ** _'_** ** _Rejoice my children, for we have at last located a worthy host. I have found two creatures which may become the greatest of my creations should they be brought into the fold. You must descend upon the terran settlement of Los Andares and slay all you find there. All save one, who shall be integrated into the swarm._**

 ** _By this action, you shall draw the other to you. Go now, and do as I have commanded.'_**

 **'** **By your will, Overmind, it shall be done.'**

* * *

Within the command center, the Lieutenant looked at the holographic display of the surface of Chau Sara, clad now in a black officers uniform. The creatures had been landing at multiple points on the planet in great numbers. The life signs were truly overwhelming as they coursed over the landscape, heading towards various conflict points. The Cerberus Commander entered the room, and they nodded to one another.

'Alpha Squadron has been deployed almost to a man while you were gone,' Lieutenant said 'at first we were grouping in small contingents, and were focusing on wiping out the xenomorph colonies. However the xenomorphs have been receiving extensive reinforcements from unknown space, and that is no longer an option.

General Duke has reorganized our forces and we're now fighting five major battles at once, here, here, here, here, and here.' He motioned to each one in turn. 'My fellow officers are doing their work well, but I'm still on call.'

'That is a prudent decision,' said the Cerberus Commander 'if one of the battles goes badly, we will be able to reinforce them.'

'As I suspected we're being kept as a reserve force.' said Lieutenant with a sigh. 'I hope we're called in soon.'

'Most soldiers would appreciate a period of rest after your recent victory.' noted the Commander.

'I live for war.' admitted Lieutenant 'It's in my blood, without one I have no purpose.' He pushed a button to open communications. 'Adjutant, have you found the xenomorphs main hive clusters yet?'

'The xenomorphs have established a large number of colonies across the planet.' said the Adjutant 'Alpha Squadron operations have reduced their number by a substantial amount. My scanners indicate that their most significant colonies are some fifty miles north and south of Los Andares.'

'Oh no…' said Lieutenant, horror coming into his tone. 'Adjutant what forces are at Los Andares right now?!'

'Scanning,' said the Adjutant 'it appears that only the local militia are there to defend it.'

'They've been drawing us out.' realized the Cerberus Commander. 'You should contact your commanding officer at once.'

Lieutenant paused as he saw something on the holographic display. 'Wait, what is the identity of that ship there?'

'This vessel is the Omega Squadron Flagship, _Berserker V.'_ said the Adjutant.

'Did you know about this?' asked Lieutenant.

'No,' said the Commander 'squadrons rarely communicate with one another without a purpose. The Confederacy doesn't like us keeping in touch.'

'Would you like me to send a transmission?' asked the Adjutant, sounding concerned.

'Yes,' said the Lieutenant of Alpha Squadron 'but not to the Berserker V, patch me through to General Duke, and send him the information you just told me.'

'Initiating transmission.'

The screen flared to life. Duke looked more tired than he had in years. 'Duke here,' said the old man. 'what is it now boy? I'm running a war.'

'I just found out that Omega Squadron is hovering over the planet of Chau Sara, and that the xenomorphs primary hives are less than fifty miles from Los Andares.' said the Lieutenant 'In the interests of the colonies safety, I think we should ask them to send troops to reinforce the area.'

'What are you thinking boy?' asked Duke 'If we let him do this, he'll take all the credit. Why don't I just send you down there, earn yourself another medal.'

'That won't work.' said Lieutenant 'If the xenomorphs were to launch an assault now, by the time we got to Los Andares it would be wiped off the map. Besides, I'm needed as a reserve force.'

'Alright then,' said Duke 'I'll see what I can wrangle up.'

The channel cut out.

* * *

General Edmund Duke had been a veteran in the Confederacy for many, many years. He was an experienced commander, and proud of his soldiers. He was proud that his squadron took on all the most difficult assignments, wedged open the door while the others cowered behind. He had been enjoying this campaign so far, and not just because he was finally getting the credit he deserved.

It felt good to defend the colonists instead of suppressing them. It was a feeling he was not used to, and long years of apathy to the colonist's plight had left him unused to having personal feelings regarding ordinary citizens. Now he was in the position of having to ask for help from that punk Lieutenant Reikson. He didn't have to, of course, he was the General of Alpha Squadron. He could stay the course.

Yet at the same time to do so might result in the deaths of the colonists he was protecting. And his pride was not great enough to do that. 'Ensign, send a transmission to the Berserker V.'

'Yes, sir!' The ensign obeyed.

The screen flared to life, and Gregory Reikson looked at General Duke with narrowed eyes. For a moment the two commanders just looked at each other, with seething anger between them racing back and forth. Once, a long time ago, Reikson had been one of Duke's Lieutenants, before a conflict of command had seen him transferred to Omega Squadron. When Reikson's commanding officer had died under mysterious circumstances, he had taken over. Duke had liked Reikson's commanding officer and hadn't like Reikson who he suspected was involved in his death. So he had personally arranged for Reikson to never be officially promoted to General.

'It been awhile since we spoke, Edmund.' said Reikson.

'Watch your tone with me, boy.' said Duke 'I'm not here to make small talk.'

'Thank god.' said Reikson. 'What, have you decided to ask for backup? Preparing for your inevitable failure?'

'My Alpha Squadron boys are worth twice yours.' said Duke 'But even they have their limits. We've gained a lot of ground, but in the process we got overextended. Los Andares is nearly defenseless. We need you to send a force to fill the breach, so these damn critters don't eat the colonists.

Think you can handle it?'

'I'm sure I can,' said Reikson 'but other than saving a couple of thousand dirt farmers I don't see any benefit for me in helping clean up your mess.'

'Listen, boy, do not have time to screw around.' said Duke 'An entire city could die-'

'I don't care.' said Reikson bluntly. 'Humanity is a resource which the Confederacy has no shortage of. You aren't even supposed to still be here, Duke. Your golden boy was sent down to assist in the evacuation of a team of scientists. That's it.

Instead, he used the media to humiliate the Confederacy into getting into an expensive war that is costing far more than we're likely to see a return on from Chau Sara.'

'Are you even listening, boy?! The entire colony will be overrun if we don't act!' stated Duke.

'Your AWOL as it is.' snapped Reikson 'So I think I'll just sit here and watch you get butchered, then get a medal after I come in and clean up your mess.'

'…You're a damn coward, son.' said Duke after a moment.

'I'm not-'

Then Duke switched off the communicator. Only then did he allow his anger to show. 'How in the flying hell did I become the heart and soul of the Confederacy of Man?' Then he saw Michael Liberty. Michael Liberty had a camera drone hovering behind him, recording the whole thing. He remained silent for a long moment. 'How long were you standing there boy?'

'Uh… I've uh… been here the whole time.' said Liberty after a moment.

Duke smile and set one hand on Michael's shoulder. 'I think I've found a use for you Mr. Liberty. You are going to write a report on what you just saw. Of course, it will be edited to show that Reikson does not speak for the Confederacy of Man, but rumors will spread.

Naturally, the confederacy will have to prove that Reikson does not speak for them. You understand?'

'You are… trying to force the confederacy into committing its full force to defending against this invasion.' realized Liberty. 'Seems kind of risk, don't you think?'

'Maybe, but I'm taking it.' said Duke 'Now about Los Andares, you there!' He pointed to an ensign. 'How many of my boys are left on the Norad II?'

'Well sir,' said the ensign 'we've got a couple of teams of vultures which nobody wanted. They were badly damaged in a previous action, and we only just finished repairing them.'

'That'll do.' said Duke morosely. 'Prep my siege tank, I'm going down there to make sure this is done right. Inform Magistrate Collins I'm coming down.'

'Yes sir.'

* * *

Cerberus Commander suddenly raised his communicator to his ear. Listening for a few moment he spoke. 'Yes? And you are sure. Affirmative.' He hung up, looking as close to pleased as he ever had. 'Lieutenant, the scientists have been evac'ed to our main stronghold. They are confident that their findings will help us defeat the xenomorphs before their influence can spread any further.'

'Excellent,' said the Lieutenant 'now we can focus on exterminating these creatures.'

'Receiving emergency transmission from the office of the Colonial Magistrate.' said the Adjutant.

'What now?' muttered Lieutenant. 'Patch it through.'

Magistrate Collins appeared on the view screen, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow. 'The City of Los Andares had fallen under attack by a large force of the creatures. General Duke himself has volunteered to aid you in retaking the city. Good luck Lieutenant, Los Andares and the Confederacy are counting on you.' The transmission went.

'Damn it!' said Lieutenant before raising his com. 'This is the Lieutenant! All forces prepare to move out! Los Andares is under attack by xenomorphs! I repeat, Los Andares is under attack by xenomorphs! Hustle people!' He lowered his com. 'Let's just hope the militia can hold out long enough for us to arrive.'

* * *

Screams echoed through Los Andares as Kerrigan sped through the streets. People were running into their homes and barring the doors. The militia had been overrun in moments, and now only a small pocket of it was keeping the southmost section of the city protected. There was a bunker there and within it, a skeleton crew of marines had gunned down a number of the creatures as they approached. Kerrigan was heading that way, pistol in hand. Then she heard a scream and looked up to see a child and her mother running, as three xenomorphs were rapidly gaining on them.

Kerrigan raised her pistol and fired thrice. The first shot blew the head from the foremost of the creatures, the second another and the third the final one. The women and the child raced past Kerrigan. More of the creatures were coming out of the alleys, as others tore at steel doors, scratching them down by sheer fury.

This was hopeless. Once these creatures murdered everyone in this section of the city, they would come after the last remnants. All Kerrigan could do was get out while she could.

Then there was a roaring sound, and over the eastern bridge, a group of vultures sped into view. They drove past Kerrigan with enough speed to send her red hair flying about her. Their grenades were launched, blasting away the creatures one by one as a tank rumbled into view. Kerrigan quickly stepped out of the way as the vehicle fired its cannons to blast the creatures.

Sensing the thoughts within the tank, Kerrigan realized that General Edmund Duke was inside of it. One of the most persistent enemies of the Sons of Korhal and he was right here, just waiting to be killed. That would have to wait, however. It was a rare thing that Kerrigan felt glad to see Confederate soldiers.

Sensing resistance the creatures rushed from all parts of the city to meet the new threat. The vultures formed a circle, firing grenades into their ranks to cover each other's blind spots and many of the creatures were slain. The tank fired again and again, and with each shot took out many zerg one after another. Finally, after a few terrible moments of fighting during which several vultures were torn to shreds, the last of the xenomorphs were destroyed.

Suddenly the loudspeakers in the city roared to life. _'This if General Edmund Duke, Confederate Security Forces Alpha Squadron, the main xenomorph strike force has been eliminated, however, we have reason to believe that there is a significant number of them in bases to the north of this city._

 _Because of this threat, Los Andares is now under martial law. Alpha Squadron will be taking command of this city and all its resources to eliminate the creatures. Just sit tight in your homes, and we'll take care of things.'_

Kerrigan heard a few ragged cheers, but that was it. Casualties had been high, there were bodies all over the streets, torn to shreds. Even so, they could have been far worse. The moment she'd sensed the xenomorphs coming she had sent out a psionic impulse to convince people that they had to get indoors. It had taken almost all her strength, but she had succeeded in getting a number of them indoors where they were able to lock the creatures out. It was something.

Of course, now Alpha Squadron would get all the credit.

'Excuse me miss.' said a voice.

Kerrigan turned around and sensed a cynic at heart. The sort of person who didn't believe anyone had the right intentions and was having a crisis of faith because of recent events. His name was Michael Liberty, he was very relieved that he had gotten here after the battle had finished, and he did not want to document the assault on the xenomorph hive clusters. He was going to anyway because he was that kind of person, and he was worried about the results another story he was about to run might have.

He had said something, Kerrigan had missed it while she was scanning him. 'I'm sorry, what?'

'I said that I'm a reporter,' said Michael 'my name is Michael Liberty I was wondering if you could tell me what happened here?'

'I…' Kerrigan added a note of fear in her voice. 'I was at the park when those things arrived. They killed people in the streets, there had been a warning but no one took it seriously. If Alpha Squadron hadn't arrived just then…'

Liberty didn't buy her act, even if he felt bad for not buying her act. Kerrigan doubted she'd have to kill him, though he was very perceptive. 'Right, right thank you.' He turned to the camera floating behind him. 'This marks the first assault on an urban center by these creatures since their arrival on Chau Sara.

The questions remain: What are these xenomorphs? What do they want? And just how long will the Confederacy have to fight them before they retreat?'

Kerrigan slipped away quietly, and when Liberty turned back she was gone. Instead, she was making her way towards the bridge, planning to get the hell out of here before any more Alpha Squadron forces showed up. There was no way General Duke was going to go after the xenomorphs will just a couple of vultures.

Unfortunately, she got to the bridge just as a whole contingent of marines were marching across it. Almost all of them were brain panned, yet their thoughts seemed somehow centralized. As she followed the connection to its source she felt _him._

He was not a man. Not in the normal sense of the word. His mind was filled constantly with the thoughts and emotions and feelings of others. It was as if he was everyone around him at once, and the voices within his mind caused her to reel. Kerrigan fell to her knees, clutching her head as she tried to break free. He sensed her.

The pain of his thoughts was unimaginable! How could he even have an identity with so many voices within his mind?

He was a Lieutenant of Alpha Squadron. He was everyone in Alpha Squadron. And he was no one. She saw him approaching her, and struggled to stand as by his will the marines lowered their guns. 'Sarah Kerrigan, you are under arrest for crimes against the Confederacy of Man. Drop your weapon and surrender.'

Kerrigan thought of everything which had happened to her because of the Confederacy. She thought of the torments, the harsh training, the murders, the brutal slaughters which she had been forced to participate in. She thought of the experiments she had been forced to undergo, the experiments involving the very xenomorphs which Alpha Squadron had been fighting. She poured her emotions and hatred into that, and broadcast it into his mind. The Lieutenant stepped back, yelling in pain, a horrible scream coming from his lips.

His connection to the brain panned marines worked both ways, and cries of pain echoed from them as well, sending them into disarray. Kerrigan forced herself to stand and made a run for it, fleeing over the bridge past the army and into the deserts beyond. Raising her com to her mouth she spoke:

'This is Kerrigan, I've gotten a scan on the Lieutenant but I need immediate evac.'

'Understood,' said General Warfield _'I'm sending a dropship now. Meet them at the following coordinates…'_

This was too big for them.

* * *

No sooner had the Lieutenant recovered from the shock, and he realized that the insurgent had escaped. His soldiers were panicking, their minds racing from the revelations which had been forced through them. As a ranking officer in Alpha Squadron, the Lieutenant had become aware of the darker side of the Confederacy, that not all was as his programming had directed him to believe.

Yet for them, this was a new experience. Their minds were having difficulty coping with the revelation, and he eased their pain with his own thoughts. Reassuring them that the Confederacy was all that stood between Los Andares and oblivion. After a while, they were in a state to move, and he led them onwards through the city.

The streets were deserted and he could feel the people hiding in terror. Bodies were still being cleaned up here and there. On the far side of the island, Lieutenant found General Edmund Duke's forces.

Los Andares had been constructed upon the first of a series of islands on an inland sea. Of those islands, only two had been inhabited. They were close enough to each other that they were all connected by bridges. Before one of these bridges, General Duke's personal siege tank was in siege mode. Several vultures stood by him, acting as guards for his minimal range. As they drew closer they saw a force of zerglings try to cross the bridge.

There was a sound of thunder, and the zerglings were obliterated by one shot from Duke's tank. Those that remained were mowed down by vulture grenades. The marines reached him, and the Lieutenant saluted and opened communications. 'General Duke sir, we are here to support you.'

'Alright then,' said Duke, his tank changing back into its normal form. 'you boys will cross the river and clear the way for me. Move out, now!'

'Permission to leave a garrison, sir?' asked Lieutenant.

'Permission granted, now get.'

Leaving behind a number of marines to guard the bridge, the Lieutenant mentally nudged the remaining militia and servicemen to begin repairing the city and bolstering its defenses. Fires had to be put out, bodies identified and pieced together as best as could be managed. Walls which had been torn down had to be reconstructed. He urged them to begin recruiting additional personnel for the militia, just in case. And his urges were received.

With that done he led his forces across the long bridge leading to the next island. It was heavily constructed, designed to withstand the weight of tanks and heavy infantry. Almost at once they were met by a force of hydralisks who attacked with a snarl. There was a moment of gauss fire and flying spines before the creatures were mowed down. A number of marines were killed in the process, however. Pressing onwards they came across still more hydralisks, who were gunned down with some cost. They had them outnumbered, and the creatures were destroyed before they could claim many lives. A little ways on, a group of zerglings rushed at them, only to be shot down in great numbers before they could reach the line.

Then they saw it. A group of abandoned structures, where once there had been life and beauty. Out of them came a number of colonists, several hundred at least. They approached Alpha Squadron. 'Boy are we glad to see you boys, we was afraid those critters would kill us all.'

'They still might if you don't get to shelter soon.' said Lieutenant 'Get across the bridge and take shelter in Los Andares.' Mentally he nudged the militia commander of Los Andares to step up his recruitment drive. They needed all the manpower they could get for this.

With that done they pressed on, as General Duke followed behind.

Finally, they came to a bridge leading to the third island. Yet over it they could see more of the sunken colonies which had claimed so many of his men before. _'I'll take care of this boy, you just keep them off my back.'_ Duke moved forward and went into siege mode.

Then he opened fire. One shot tore through a sunken colony, causing it to spew blood as it shuddered. Lieutenant and his men took a place in front of Duke, and not a moment too soon. For suddenly there was an outpouring of zerglings across the bridge in massive numbers. His soldiers opened fire, tearing through their ranks as they came. On and on the xenomorphs charged, dying in droves as Duke fired again. The sunken colony withered and died as still more zerglings came on. Not one reached Duke, however, for the marines of Alpha Squadron fired constantly into a choke point. Their bodies piled higher and higher as Duke fired again at another sunken colony.

So it continued for perhaps an hour, as more and more xenomorphs charged at them. Finally the last sunken colony was destroyed and the numbers of xenomorphs slackened. Mentally calling up his uninjured forces, the Lieutenant led them across the bridge. Picking their way across the endless thousands of corpses was a difficult task, for the ground was totally obscured, and the bodies were slippery with blood. Several times a marine would be scaling a mound of corpses, only for a cadaver to slip beneath an armored foot and send him falling to the ground. These were helped up by their fellows.

Michael Liberty could be seen throwing up some ways away as they finally reached the far side. The creep which had covered the ground was rapidly fading away. Soon they entered a barren region and saw no sign of their enemies.

A group of trees could be seen growing as they passed by a great hill. Coming round the side, they saw the first of the xenomorphs hive clusters. No sooner had them assembled and a great tide of xenomorphs arrived, swarming towards them. Once again Alpha Squadron formed ranks and fired into their approaching force, and once again they died by the thousands. Yet among them were hydralisks, whose needles claimed the lives of nearly a hundred marines. Several dozen more were torn to bits by zerglings who got too close. One fell dead with some through his face plate, right next to Lieutenant, who felt his death. As he died, Lieutenant wondered if death was the end and if it was not what one might expect at the end of that inevitable journey. Then he thanked whatever god was listening that the xenomorphs made no attempt to create a formation. They got in each other's way. Had they been properly led this assault would never have worked.

Pressing on, they halted just out of range of the sunken colonies. It was here that General Duke, now joined by a number of tanks who had been following went into siege mode and began the bombardment. As their shots tore through the xenomorph defenses, still more enemies emerged from the east, and the marines were forced to fight them off. The enemy numbered in endless thousands, and the rattle of his gauss rifle soon had his hands going numb. Men were picked off on either side of him, only to be replaced by still more Alpha Squadron marines. Duke, it seemed, had arranged for consistent reinforcements.

The xenomorphs continued to press at them in wave after bloody wave, while Duke continued to hammer their fortifications. Reinforcements arrived constantly from both sides, yet Alpha Squadron was taking fewer casualties and so their forces were growing. Yet the bulbous floating creatures that Collins had named overlords air dropped hydralisks and zerglings from other locations constantly and their numbers never seemed to dwindle. It didn't take much to realize, however, that he was drawing forces away from the garrisons in many other colonies.

As the endless bloodshed continued, the Lieutenant stepped back a few paces to rest for a moment and marvel at the swarm rushing them. 'They truly are a formidable enemy, Liberty.' he said suddenly to the reporter.

'You seem to be beating them Lieutenant.' said Liberty.

'Yes, I know.' said the Lieutenant 'But I have inflicted tens of thousands of casualties upon them by this stage, and that is not touching upon the other officers. Yet despite these massive losses they press on without end, without fail. They do not fear death, these creatures.

Any terran army that suffered these losses would have fallen apart if it hadn't been completely wiped out. Yet these creatures simply persist.'

Within the hour the defenses had been destroyed and the oncoming swarm slackened in its assault. Duke and his siege tanks were transforming back, while reinforcements arrived from Los Andares. Duke spoke: _'All units move forward and wipe out the rest of the hive! Let's show these critters what happens to those that oppose the terran confederacy.'_

A cheer sounded from the marines as they rushed forward alongside the siege tanks and began the decimation of the xenomorph hives. The tanks blew great chunks out of the hatchery, while marines tossed explosives into the spawning pool. A large palace shaped building was blown to pieces by their efforts, as was a fleshy refinery type building. Even so, there were still casualties, for a number of sunken colonies had escaped Duke's bombardment and claimed the lives of many men. Still, more reinforcements arrived from the surrounding hives, before these two were wiped away. The complete annihilation of the hive took the better part of the day, and by the time they pressed on east seeking the last of the hives, the sun was sinking.

The last hive was no simple matter to destroy. Most of its defenders had already been spent attacking the assault on the previous hive, yet the xenomorpsh drew still more forces in from other regions. They made Alpha Squadron fight for every inch of space. Yet ultimately it was too little, too late. The tanks fired an endless barrage, systematically annihilating the enemy structures, while the marines amused themselves by gunning down the overlords. They exploded into fountains of blood as the mass slaughter began.

Finally, there was nothing left to destroy.

The attack on Los Andares had been paid back more than tenfold. Victory belonged to the Confederacy of Man.

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

Well, here we have chapter four of Starcraft Precursor. I think this one turned out well enough, although I'd be lying if I said I didn't have some doubts about this fic. Kerrigan's role in it was not originally planned, however it seemed logical to show what the Sons of Korhal were doing during all this time. As for why the Overmind is interested in the Lieutenant, I am of the opinion that the Overmind didn't choose Kerrigan in particular. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Overmind would have been perfectly satisfied with catching Nova in Kerrigan's stead, were circumstances different.

I seriously considered removing the Overminds interest in the Lieutenant, since it seemed like a somewhat Gary Stuish aspect, but the Overmind would logically be interested in someone with the Lieutenants capabilities. So either I could say that the Overmind was unaware of the Lieutenants presence, or simply say that the Overmind was only interested in Kerrigan. Neither one seems in character, so I had to keep that aspect.

I honestly have no idea why I included Gregory Reikson in this story in the first place. I posted this thing years ago, and my original plans were all forgotten by the time I got back to it.

Anyway, enjoy!

 **Edit:**

Changed some of the dialogue between Duke and Reikson to make it less redundant and make Duke seem in character.

 **DOUBLE EDIT:**

Changed the battle scene to make it less of a one-sided stomp in favor of making the xenomorphs put up a better fight.


	5. Plots within Plots

**Chapter Five: Plots within Plots**

The confederate news networks broadcast a story that shook the Confederacy to its core. The news had been brimming with countless reports of the heroic men of Alpha Squadron slaughtering the vile xenomorphs who were trying to destroy all that was good. And the Old Families weren't happy about it.

A magazine hit the counter, showing a picture of an Alpha Squadron soldier standing over the corpse of a slain xenomorph. Arturro Calabas paced back and forth in the council chambers in a fury. 'Unacceptable!' shouted Calabas 'Absolutely unacceptable! I want the man who talked to the press dead!'

'I'm afraid that's not really an option, sir.' said Duran, calm and cool as always. 'The Lieutenant of Alpha Squadron has become something of a public hero.'

'Then stage an accident and have him get caught up in it.'

'That would be extremely difficult given the circumstances,' said Duran 'and ill-advised.'

'Ill-advised?' asked Calabas 'Are you forgetting who's in command here, Duran?'

'Of course not,' said Duran 'in fact my knowledge of who commands the Confederacy is precisely why I know we cannot move against him. You see, the Lieutenant of Alpha Squadron was Duke's pet project. He put a great deal of money and resources into his creation, and now he is reaping the rewards.

If you kill him then you will be making enemies within the Old Families. A conflict between your families is something we have made a point of avoiding.'

'Duke is in disgrace!' said Calabas 'He's a joke, he commands the brain panned canon fodder which are thrown into the meat grinder to choke it up. No one cares what he thinks.'

'Not anymore,' said Duran 'now he's conquering hero. His exploits have increased his influence and power in Tarsonis. If you will permit to say so sir, this situation could result in a shifting of power in the Old Families.'

'Alright,' said Calabas 'so we can't kill Duke, and we can't kill his golden boy. Fine, but I want to know what the Cerberus Commander was thinking letting that reporter talk. He should have been removed the moment he left the base.'

'If I might venture a guess,' said Duran ruefully. 'the Cerberus Commander never even thought to do that.'

'What are you talking about?' asked Calabas 'Removing people who might talk is part of his job description.'

'Ah you underestimate the reality warping bubble of our friend the Lieutenant.' said Duran ruefully. 'As the first tactical empath he forms mental bonds with people on reflex, absorbing their thoughts and personalities into his own. It's second nature to him. He has spent his entire existence working side by side with the brain panned-'

'You mean neurally resocialized-'

'With the greatest respect sir,' said Duran 'resocialized is not a word.'

'I don't care,' said Calabas 'just finish your thought.'

'-he has spent his entire existence working side by side with brain panned individuals. People who have been programmed to believe the Confederacy is a just and benevolent society with the best interests of all its citizens at heart. One whose militaries purpose is to defend the innocent.

Whatever the reality, that world view is the one he has been raised with.'

'Oh come on,' said Calabas 'he's a Lieutenant, and he isn't a complete moron. You can't seriously expect me to believe he doesn't know the truth.'

'I've read some of his writings.' said Duran 'He has a very clear picture of how he thinks the Confederacy should be run. I believe that he mentally influenced the Cerberus Commander to let the story run. Possibly without even knowing it.'

'Are you sure?' asked Calabas.

'Positive,' said Duran 'because he tried to mentally influence me. Unsuccessfully of course.'

At that moment a phone rang, and Arturro removed his and set it to his ears. 'What is it Constantino? What about the news, fine, I'll check it.' Grabbing a remote he turned on a tv and switched to the news.

It showed an image of General Edmund Duke facing down Lieutenant Reikson on the bridge of Norad II. The General looked angry, while Reikson looked smug.

 _'Its been awhile since we spoke, Edmund.' said Reikson._

 _'Watch your tone with me, boy.' said Duke 'I'm not here to make small talk.'_

 _'Thank god.' said Reikson. 'What, have you decided to ask for backup? Preparing for your inevitable failure?'_

 _'My Alpha Squadron boys are worth twice yours.' said Duke 'But even they have their limits. We've gained a lot of ground, but in the process we got overextended. Los Andares is nearly defenseless. We need you to send a force to fill the breach, so these damn critters don't eat the colonists._

 _Think you can handle it?'_

 _'I'm sure I can,' said Reikson 'but other than saving a couple of dirt farmers I don't see any benefit for me in helping clean up your mess.'_

 _'Listen boy, do not have time to screw around.' said Duke 'An entire city could die-'_

 _'I don't care.' said Reikson bluntly. 'Humanity is a resource which the Confederacy has no shortage of. You aren't even supposed to still be here, Duke. Your golden boy was sent down to assist in the evacuation of a team of scientists. Thats it._

 _Instead he used the media to humiliate the Confederacy into getting into an expensive war that is costing far more than we're likely to see a return on from Chau Sara.'_

 _'The entire colony will be destroyed if we don't act.' stated Duke._

 _'Your AWOL as it is.' snapped Reikson 'So I think I'll just sit here and watch you get butchered, then get a medal after I come in and clean up your mess.'_

 _'…Your a damn coward, son.' said Duke after a moment._

 _'I'm not-'_

 _Then Duke switched off the communicator. Only then did he allow his anger to show. 'How in the flying hell did I become the heart and soul of the Confederacy of Man?' The camera changed in a manner which indicated video editing, 'Now, Los Andares, you there!' He pointed to an ensign. 'How many of my boys are left on the Norad II?'_

 _'Well sir,' said the ensign 'we've got a couple of teams of vultures which nobody wanted. They were badly damaged in a previous action, and we only just finished repairing them.'_

 _'That'll do.' said Duke morosely. 'Prep my siege tank, I'm going down there to make sure this is done right. Inform Magistrate Collins I'm coming.'_

 _'Yes sir.'_

Calabas threw the remote at the screen, which lodged itself inside the television screen, shattering it. 'That bastard!' he snapped 'Duke is tearing the whole plan to shreds just to advance his own political interests!' He took a deep breath.

'It seems to be working.' reflected Duran in some amusement.

'You seem awfully calm about this Duran,' said Calabas 'might I remind you that it was your subordinate who screwed this up?'

'My sincerest apologies, sir.' said Duran, unconcerned.

'Call a meeting of the Old Families.' said Calabas 'We need to do… something about this?'

Duran would obey. He doubted events here would change his own plans much. The Lieutenant for all his valor was unlikely to halt the swarms advance, and should he gain greater influence over the terran race, so much the better. 'As you command, sir.'

* * *

In the aftermath of the xenomorphs defeat at Los Andares, still more good news poured in from the other fronts. Alpha Squadron had been victorious in all five battles, though not without cost. Thousands of soldiers of Alpha Squadron now lay dead upon the fields of Chau Sara, and as the days passed their numbers continued to climb. The xenomorphs were still sustaining larger casualties, however, reports indicated that they were avoiding mass battles. The hit and run tactics, combined with the skirmishes had caused the score to be a bit evener.

For now, it fell to the Lieutenant to give his men their last rites.

Their bodies lay before him, sealed in many black caskets. Their suits had been disassembled for repair to be used later. Attending the funeral were many brain panned soldiers, still in full armor. There were no families, no dignitaries. The deaths of hundreds of marines were of no concern to the higher ups. Michael Liberty had attended and was recording as usual. In the company was also General Edmund Duke, who looked rather somber. The Cerberus Commander had also attended at the Lieutenants request.

In this downtime the Lieutenant found himself bound to give some kind of speech. And in light of recent events, he choose to make one more controversial than he otherwise might have. 'These soldiers were not just men of the Confederacy,' he said 'they were men of honor. Men who fought and killed and died for a cause greater than any government, the protection of the innocent, and the defeat of evil. The thousands of citizens who are alive today are a testament to their courage, their fortitude and their unyielding bravery in the face of impossible odds.

Remember them. Even if all else comes to naught, we must remember them. For if they are forgotten, then all their efforts will have been in vain.'

Lieutenant had brought in a priest to read a sermon. The christian religion was ancient beyond measure, but it had survived throughout the ages and been transported to the Koprolu Sector in the ships long ago. He choose it because he'd scanned through the pages of the bible once, and found the tales of the taking of Canaan inspiring.

Today he hardly listened to the sermon. His eyes fell upon the bodies of his men, and he realized that he had never mourned his losses as he did today. Something about that encounter with the ghost had shaken him.

* * *

That night he ate dinner with General Duke on board the Norad II. The officer's mess was a place he rare attended, it was a relic of an era when the majority of soldiers weren't brainwashed, and Duke kept his Lieutenants isolated from each other. They spoke little, seeming to be preoccupied with other matters. Finally, Duke spoke: 'The television broadcasts are making the idiot Reikson squirm.'

'I'm glad.' said the Lieutenant, cutting into his steak.

Silence fell over them, as both men tried to think of something to say. The Lieutenant came up with something. 'You sent deep space scans to ascertain the xenomorphs location. Did you have any luck?'

'Nova Squadrons been working at it,' said Duke 'they're the ones who are supposed to be on recon duty. Last I heard they were coming up with a lot of results. There are more of these critters on the way from multiple worlds.'

'How many?' asked Lieutenant.

Duke sighed, feeling his age. 'More than we can handle.'

Once again silence fell over them, and the Lieutenant considered how best to phrase what he needed to ask. 'The confederacy has known about these creatures for some time, haven't they?'

'Yeah,' said Duke 'it's been kept a top of the line secret, lots of terminations and disappearances. The black ops used biological weapons to wipe out a few colonies to hide them.'

The way he said it was so casual. Just how common were things like this being done? 'A few colonies?' said Lieutenant 'How many people died there?'

'Two or three thousand in total.' said Duke 'Nothing too large. Apparently, it's necessary to keep some plan of theirs going.'

'If the confederacy is that dead set on keeping this thing a secret,' said Lieutenant 'why did you let me talk to the press?'

'I don't like this plan, whatever it is.' said Duke 'These xenomorphs have been hitting our colonies. When something tries to wipe you out you should blow it up, not help it along. So I pulled a few strings and let Michael Liberty's story go through uncensored.'

'How is Liberty still alive?' asked Lieutenant 'I've read that he was sent to us because he had a tendency to push into things that didn't concern him. Why would they even put him on Alpha Squadron?'

'Nobody knew we'd be going to Chau Sara!' snapped Duke 'It had been a slow couple of years. They figured he'd spin a few hostile takeovers, and that would be the end of it. Instead, he's just blown the lid on the biggest secret the confederacy has ever had. And frankly, I'm glad that he did.

For once in my life, I'm looking in the mirror and liking what I see.'

'You didn't answer my question sir.' said Lieutenant 'Why is Liberty still alive?'

'He's got connections,' said Duke 'his mother has a friend who is the wife of a member of the Old Families. Their reluctant to call in a hit on him, that's why he was able to get away with as much as he did.

Still, that shouldn't have saved him from Cerberus Squadron. Those boys have killed high ranking officials for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I don't know why they haven't moved against him.'

'Well,' said Lieutenant 'I don't expect we'll ever find out.'

'No, no we won't.' said Duke.

Dinner was finished without much further conversation.

* * *

The meeting amongst the Old Families was staged in a large white round room, engineered to be impossible to bug. There were guards at every entrance, loyal to the Calabas family. A circular table stood at the center of the room, made of ornate polished wood.

'Until the psi disruptor is fully operational, we are vulnerable.' Constantino Terra was saying. 'The xenomorphs are growing too fast. They are more dangerous than you give them credit for.'

'Dangerous to a few fringe colonies maybe,' said Ava Holt 'not to Tarsonis.'

'The xenomorphs will continue to gain strength in the outlying regions if we do not intervene.' said Terra.

'The outlying regions of space will no longer be of any concern to us.' stated Calabas as he entered the room. 'I have already decided that are to initiate a full-on withdrawal from Chau Sara within the next month.'

'That is... drastic,' said Terra. 'we can't just pull out now. Not after that media firestorm! We'll have the masses baying for our blood!'

'I should just like to say that Edmund acted without my authority.' said Anthony Duke, the Head of the Duke Family. He was far younger than Edmund Duke by almost twenty years. 'I'd like to take the opportunity to apologize for his actions now.'

'You need not concern yourself with it.' said Calabas 'His actions, though unauthorized, have been good for our reputation. And I have a plan to keep the goodwill of the people, for however much that is worth, without compromising the plan.'

'Oh?' asked Terra.

'Duran, if you would.' said Calabas.

They looked up and saw Duran for the first time. A chill went through the old families, for not one of them had even been aware that the dark skinned man was standing right in front of them until right now. Duran walked forward, regarding each of them in turn. 'Ladies and gentlemen, it is my belief that a full-scale evacuation of Chau Sara is a feasible option. If we divert the full resources of Omega Squadron to transporting the population of Chau Sara to its sister colony of Mar Sara, we should be able to move most of them to safety before our withdrawal becomes necessary.'

'You mean to put an entire squadron to work evacuating a bunch of peons?' asked Holt. 'You must be joking.'

'Those 'peons' as you call them, are people.' said Terra, who was something of a romantic. 'You might want to remember the fact.'

'It's a complete waste of our resources!' snapped Holt.

'Omega Squadron would not just be evacuating.' said Duran 'They would also be providing security for the population centers while the civilians are waiting for rescue. Seeing as how this entire situation is Reikson's fault, to begin with, it seems only appropriate that he clean up his own mess.'

'Well, he was stupid enough to gloat in front of a reporter.' reflected Anthony.

'And what about the Psi Disruptor?' asked Terra 'I realize that none of you take the xenomorphs seriously, but if the xenomorphs start taking core worlds we might not get a chance to use it.'

'The psi disruptor will soon be working on schedule.' Duran assured him. 'Soon enough we will be ready to begin testing it. It is my belief that Mar Sara would make the perfect testing ground for its power.'

'Unbelievable,' said Terra 'you mean to evacuate the survivors to the very target you mean to hit next. Do the words cruel and unusual mean anything to you, Duran?'

'No he's right,' said Halt 'once the people have been brought off the planet they will drop off the news radar. I don't want to have to commit even more resources to feeding a bunch of refugees. I had enough of that nonsense during the Guild Wars. This way we get rid of them and look like heroes in the process.'

There were murmurs of agreement amongst the others of the Old Families. None of them wanted to deal with the bother of another refugee crisis. Best to dispose of the nuisance before they became even more of a headache. As far as the old families were concerned, Chau Sara had been dead from the moment the xenomorphs arrived there.

As far as Duran was concerned, the Old Families were already dead to him. There was something about them he found truly contemptible. It was one thing for Amon to want to end all life that he might recreate the universe in his own image, but he had actual _power_. These hyenas were pampered, sheltered, and utterly sociopathic. It took a lot to get Duran to mildly dislike you, and they had managed it.

'Unbelievable,' said Terra 'fine I'm overruled, as usual. How are we going to explain this to the press?'

'Isn't that what we were just discussing?' asked Richard Kusinis.

'Alright fine,' said Terra 'but we've just sent out a huge number of broadcasts demonstrating Alpha Squadron's glorious victory over the xenomorphs. The casualty reports are massively in our favor, even before we doctored them. Duke is winning nothing but victories.

What? Are we going to just tell people that we don't give a damn about the fringe colonies? Because it would be true, but I imagine it won't go down very well.'

'In that regard,' said Duran 'we have a fortunate coincidence in our favor. Our sources believe that there is a large Protoss Fleet heading for Chau Sara.'

A chill went through them. Terra stared at Duran. 'A Protoss Fleet? They… this is game changing! We have to send some kind of expedition to establish first contact.'

'Why?' asked Anthony 'So they can blow it out of the sky?'

'We've kept the existence of the Protoss top secret for a reason.' said Holt 'We shouldn't break the silence on them now. It might lead to someone finding out about Aldaris, and once that happened people would start saying we were a puppet government.'

'The government of the confederacy is our puppet.' said Terra 'I don't think you people are taking this seriously. The most advanced race we know of is sending a fleet to one of our colonies, and you don't even want to try and find out what they are doing there?'

'The Protoss are a secondary concern.' stated Duran 'One that can be dealt with easily enough once the plan comes to fruition. For now, they will make a convenient excuse to withdraw.'

'Alpha Squadron heroically defends the innocent colonists of Chau Sara's escape. A flawless strategic retreat in the face of two hostile Alien forces.' surmised Terra. 'I can just see the headlines.' He looked at the faces of his fellows, and Duran knew he was trying to reach them. 'You do realize that we have no idea what we are up against here, don't you? Aldaris aside, we know almost nothing about the Protoss. We don't know what their military is capable of, we don't know what they value.

We do know that some elements of their race are extremely annoyed with us, though. Or have we forgotten the last message we received from them?'

'That was over a hundred years ago, Terra.' said Holt.

'Exactly!' said Terra 'We… we are on the threshold of a massive event in human history and we don't understand anything about any of the players! Maybe instead of just acting as if everything is going according to our master plan and cackling to ourselves, we should actually take this seriously!'

He was reaching them. Duran had better act quick. 'Constantino is right of course. The presence of the Protoss in this matter has only increased the need for the psi disruptor, and, if I may be so bold, the psi emitters.

Once we have control of the xenomorphs, we may dispose of them, and the Protoss at our leisure.'

It was all he needed to say. Terra aside these people were so far gone they were beyond all help. They had no great ambitions of their own, they were a herd, a country club of self-interested parasites. Hedonistic cows that were fed on the blood of all the other barnyard animals of the Koprolu Sector. Duran looked forward to the slaughter with great eagerness.

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

Okay, so now we have some more details on what exactly Samir Duran is doing here. He has a knack for getting into high ranking positions in the company of evil empires, doesn't he? Whatever the case, this chapter was pretty fun to write, although it took quite a bit of work to iron out the details. This is the first chapter I've written which doesn't have its basis in a mission. Instead, it focuses on how people are reacting to the war.

Oh, and it has been revealed that the confederacy has known about the Protoss for some time as well. Frankly, I find it kind of unlikely that the confederacy could be exploring the stars for that long, and not run into some sign of the Protoss. After all, they are a space faring race who has clearly colonized other planets, and if Fenix's dialogue is any indication they have been anything but a secretive attitude when it comes to other forms of life.

So I guess Omega Squadron will actually get off their butts to do something soon, how nice for them.

I think my favorite part of this chapter was Duran's scene. The man is just so utterly sociopathic, and the Old Families are equally sociopathic. The key difference is that the Old Families are completely detached and indifferent, whereas Duran is very personal and actively malicious. Yet on the surface, Duran is far more appealing.

Also, I kind of refuse to acknowledge Narud and Duran as the same person. Duran had style and was a magnificent bastard if ever there was one. Meanwhile, Narud did next to nothing for the entire story and was killed in a literal beam o war. Which is stupid. Really stupid. In fact, in my personal opinion, Narud's defeat in Heart of the Swarm was the single stupidest thing which Blizzard has ever produced.

Still, Stukov killing him was pretty cool.

'I came to say goodnight you son of a bitch!' Indeed.


	6. Evacuation

**Chapter Six: Evacuation**

Lieutenant Reikson had been having a bad few weeks. First Duke had released an engineered public confession which had resulted in his reputation taking a serious hit, as Duke looked like the conquering hero. The ensuing media frenzy had seen him demonized constantly. And now this was happening. He stared at the screen on his bridge, open mouthed as he tried to comprehend what had just been said to him. 'Evacuation duty? You want me to be saddled with pulling these dirt farmers out?'

'You catch on quickly, Lieutenant.' said Duran in amused sarcasm. 'The Old Families are more than a little disappointed in how you acted in front of the press. We now need to demonstrate our benevolent face in front of the crowd.'

'Whats it matter what the crowds think?!' snapped Reikson 'If they riot we can just douse them with flamethrowers.'

'Be that as it may,' said Duran 'you should not underestimate the benefits of a positive face. Also, so long as you are down there you are to provide security for the various settlements. No mistreating the locals, that will only add fuel to the fire. Am I clear?' There was a note of threat in his tone.

'Yes sir.' said Reikson, standing to attention. 'Perfectly clear sir.' The last thing he wanted to do was fuck with Duran.

'Excellent,' said Duran 'I'll be in touch. I expect perfect results Lieutenant, no civilian casualties.'

The computer screen winked out, and Reikson remained silent for a long moment. 'Damn it!' he cursed 'Fine, lets get this over with. Ensign, begin making preparations to evacuate the civilian populace. How long should that take?'

'Maybe an hour to prep the dropships,' said the Ensign 'we weren't expecting to have to move in.'

'What do I pay you people for?!' snapped Reikson. 'Make it thirty minutes or find yourself another job!'

'There is a problem sir,' said another Ensign 'the Berserker V was not designed as a passenger liner. We have extra space of course, but you ordered that filled up with additional marines to act as a reserve force. We won't have enough space to transport the colonists.'

'Fine,' said Reikson 'we'll make some space. Fill the dropships up with our soldiers, then find a heavily defended zerg hive for them to attack.' He paused. 'Actually no, belay that, I'm going down there personally. Make sure the news knows about this. I should be able to get some points for a victory.

You take charge of the evacuation once we've landed. And see if you can round up some extra transportation just in case.'

'Yes sir, I'll contact all the reporters.'

'Sir,' said another ensign. 'I've found something I think you might like.'

Reikson made his way over and looked at the screen. It was a large zerg hive, that had been created in the middle of a series of passes. There were many sunken colonies guarding it, however aside from that it looked practically undefended. 'What is the significance of this place?'

'Its near a major starport sir,' said the ensign 'and its blocking off all passage too and from the settlement. If we were to destroy it, that would make the evacuation a heck of a lot easier.'

'Its a start,' said Reikson 'good work. Now everyone get to work!'

Activity overtook the bridge of the Berserker V as everyone went about following their orders and Reikson strode from the bridge, checking his side arm as he did so. It was full, but he doubted he'd have the chance to use it. Even so he kept it on him at all times, just in case.

* * *

Michael Liberty was called into Magistrate Collins Office and there met the man. He was reading through a number of files, placing them one by one into boxes, and did not look up at once. The overcoat of his uniform was off, and he looked tired. Very tired. Glancing up at last, Collins sighed. 'I've been Magistrate of Chau Sara for ten years. I've overseen research, and poured my heart of soul into making this place work. First the Sons of Korhal corrupt the militia, then the xenomorphs. Now I find out that I'm supposed to organize an evacuation of the colony.'

'Evacuation?' asked Liberty 'The entire colony.'

Collins turned his computer screen around to show charts and readings. 'See this chart? Its from Nova Squadron, they tell us that there is another wave of xenomorphs, even larger than the last one heading this way. The Confederacy has decided this outpost is indefensible, and so has ordered an evacuation.

I'm to coordinate matters with Omega Squadron.'

'Omega Squadron?'

'Yes,' said Collins 'apparently they have been tasked with the evacuation to Mar Sara.'

'But Omega Squadron are supposed to be complete psychotics.' said Liberty 'They get the worst of the worst for their marines, I mean…'

'I'm not complaining.' said Collins 'I don't think the Confederates even intended to try and hold this place. Just get the scientists out and leave the rest to burn. I'd love to believe the propaganda, but there is a part of me that knows better.

If you boys hadn't turned this into a media frenzy, they probably wouldn't be bothering to evacuate us in the first place. So I guess I should thank you.'

'You don't need to thank me,' said Liberty 'this is the story of a lifetime. An alien invasion, the Confederate Marine core acting like heroes? Its… its been an honor to document all this sir.' He really meant it, he realized. This was the sort of story reporters would kill for.

'Well whatever the case,' said Collins 'Omega Squadron is about to begin operations in a starport. They mean to land and clear away the xenomorph hives that are barring the paths of refugees. I thought you might like a chance to see some of the other squadrons in action.'

Liberty would actually like the chance, but he was also somewhat fearful. He didn't know if Reikson remembered his face, but he wasn't particularly in a hurry to find out. People who displeased Reikson tended to have accidents happen to them. 'Reikson might hold a grudge against me.'

'Precisely,' said Collins 'fortunately the Lieutenant of Alpha Squadron is already there. He's on leave right now, but he's been spending it working to reorganize the militia into a proper fighting force. Frankly an outlying starport like that would have been wiped out by now if he hadn't been there.

I've personally requested he ensure your safety.'

'Thank you sir,' said Liberty 'I'll take the job.'

'I appreciate your efforts,' said Collins 'the more focus we put on this war, the less likely the high command is to try and cut us off from support.'

* * *

Within the dropship Omega Squadron marines waited as the ship surged through the air. Outside the window they could see the barren and rocky surface of Chau Sara speed below them. Every so often they would see settlements of colonists. Terran colonies were generally constructed with as few buildings as possible, at least initially. A core few buildings were designed to house many people with indoor greenhouses and food production facilities which allowed them to be self sufficient. They could also lift off, and in theory escape the planet on their own.

The problem was that Chau Sara had been an independent colony for many years. As a result its population had swelled, and the buildings which the settlement had been built around were now surrounded by countless non portable, non self sufficient buildings. A consumer class had popped up to work alongside the miners and farmers. Thus the evacuation would require outside help, that was why Reikson was being called in here.

Within the dropship itself the Omega Squadron Marines said nothing. Beneath their helmets their teeth were gritted, as they sizzled beneath the surface. Reikson had ordered a number of experiments on his own brain panned marines, and those who served in his squadron were incredibly aggressive. Slavishly loyal, but aggressive, like attack dogs except less valuable.

'Sir,' said an ensign 'I'm detecting a large group of colonists fleeing from an outpost. It seems the xenomorphs were pressing a bit too close for their liking, and their heading to a base camp some ways south of their position.'

'Fine,' said Reikson 'as long as we're doing this we'll do it right. Dispatch a dropship to assist the refugees. Have them annihilate the zerg in the region, then return to the original mission.'

'Also there is another problem,' continued the Ensign 'we have reports that the zerg have set up defenses between the various colonies. No one can get between them. If we don't deal with them, the evacuation won't be able to proceed.'

'Whatever,' said Reikson 'send two dropships to handle that. The rest are with me.'

'Yes sir.'

Reikson watched the three brown painted dropships veer off from the formation to land far below. Bringing up the screen of his wrist device, he tuned to watch satilite images of the battlefield. Observing from far above, he watched as his forces engaged the xenomorphs. The first group charged into the xenomorph territory, heedless of the refugees who made their way across the dunes.

Omega Squadron marines were not equipped with anything but the bare minimum, Reikson saw no reason to coddle easily replaceable convicts. A number of the marines were torn to bloody shreds by the xenomorphs as the idiots advanced without any kind of formation. The rest however slew the xenomorphs and continued to press on. The xenomorphs sensed their fellow creatures deaths and converged in Omega Squadron's location, thirsting for blood. The marines fired endlessly, screaming in rage as they did so and tearing through the xenomorphs, who came on. For all their rage and heroics, however, the xenomorphs soon overwhelmed their formation and tore them to shreds. Yet by the end of it the xenomorphs had suffered such severe casualties that the militia were able to finish them off with an assault from behind.

 _'So much the better,'_ thought Reikson _'now I won't need to make space for em.'_

He turned his view to the second two dropships. The Omega Squadron Marines made their way through the highlands towards the outposts. They assaulted the zerg head on in a rag tag formation. Their guns roared to life, and many of the front ranks of the creatures were slaughtered, only for others to take their place.

The xenomorphs charged, and killed a number of the marines, before they too were overwhelmed and destroyed. The Omega Squadron marines destroyed the xenomorph colony utterly, before pressing on into a colony. They paid no heed to the colonists who they had freed, instead turning and making their way deep into xenomorph territory in search of more things to shoot.

The xenomorphs converged around them, heedless of the many casualties and surrounded them, hacking them to pieces. When the last Omega Squadron soldier fell, Reikson sniffed in distain. 'Mission accomplished.'

'Sir,' said the ensign 'the way is open for the colonists.'

'Good,' said Reikson 'tell the dropships to offer evacuation to any non combatants among the colonists. We've got space enough.'

'Yes sir.'

Reikson leaned back in his seat. 'Three dropships down. Five to go.'

'Sir… the marines are your subordinates.' said the ensign, sounding disturbed.

'Yes,' said Reikson with an amused smile as he remembered an RTS game he played as a child. 'and I'm currently at my population limit.'

'…Thats not funny, sir.' said the ensign.

'To each his own, I guess.' reflected Reikson.

This was a promising start.

* * *

Liberty's dropship landed and he made his way out of it to find the Lieutenant waiting for him at the base. He was clad in full uniform, and flanked by multiple white clad marines. 'Michael Liberty, the men and I are honored by your presence. Right this way, Reikson is just about to begin his operations.'

'Ah, okay,' said Liberty.

He followed them away on reflex, and it occurred to him that following the Lieutenants commands was something that came very naturally to people.

It was as if the Lieutenant had some kind of reality warping bubble which made everyone in its presence suddenly desire to work together for the glory of the Confederacy. Except the Lieutenant served a Confederacy which did not really exist outside of his bubble, and its interests were often at odds with the real ones. Yet he was loyal, Liberty was sure of that.

The reporter glanced to his ever present bodyguard Emily Swallow. 'I wasn't exactly expecting a red carpet to be honest. Did you know about this?'

'The Lieutenant did not inform me.' admitted Swallow 'However you have been of great assistance to Alpha Squadron by chronicling our campaign. You should be proud.'

'Sure, sure,' said Liberty.

Outside a command center they found the amassed ranks of Omega Squadron. They oozed hostility as they looked around, their fingers on their triggers. Bystanders kept out of dodge, while the militia who were present looked unnerved. They had something of a reputation for collateral. As they reached the doors of the command center, Lieutenant halted, and glanced to his men. 'Liberty and Swallow will follow me. The rest of you remain here.'

The marines saluted and they entered the command center. Going up the elevator, they were led to a computer room where they found Reikson answering a series of reporters. As soon as the Lieutenant saw Liberty he pushed away the mike. 'No more questions for now, I have an operation to run.' Then he glared at Liberty in seething contempt. 'Michael Liberty, I was expecting to find you polishing Duke's boots.'

'I merely reported what I saw.' said Liberty, not feeling inclined to apologize. Reikson had deserved it, even if he had been playing into Duke's political agenda. 'Now what was this about an operation?'

'We were about to begin without you.' said Reikson, switching on the screen to show his forces marching forward towards the pass. They marched in greats ranks, and as they marched xenomorphs unburrowed from the ground on either side. 'I'm sending a vanguard ahead towards the xenomorph hives. They will wedge open the door, so to speak.'

The Omega Squadron Marines turned and opened fire on the xenomorphs which charged them. The xenomorphs were slain, but there were casualties. Even so the marines continued forward, occasionally encountering xenomorphs who they gunned down. Little by little their numbers dwindled.

'Sir,' said the Lieutenant 'that kind of force won't be sufficient to break the defenses.'

'They aren't going to,' said Reikson 'I just need to get the xenomorphs out into the open. Find out what kind of force they have. And clear away any surprises along the way.' The Omega Squadron marines assaulted the sunken colonies, which slew man after man as they fired. From the creep countless xenomorphs emerged and charged them. At the same time another force came from the outlying cliffs to assault from behind.

Enveloped on all sides, Omega Squadrons forces were cut to pieces. Hundreds of them died, screaming as they were torn apart. Blood spilled over the sands, until finally the xenomorphs were finished.

'You should have withdrawn them before they reached the base,' said Lieutenant, looking white in the face. 'you just lost hundreds.'

'The operation is still progressing as planned.' said Reikson as another, larger group of marines came up behind the first one and opened fire. 'With the xenomorphs clustered and their reserves committed we can confront the main force head on.'

Sure enough Omega Squadron met them, forming a great line and opening fire in a withering barrage which slaughtered them by the thousands. The creatures rallied and charged, but as they came on firebats met them and used their fire to melt the front ranks to ashes. Soon the main force of zerg was destroyed and the marines halted.

A great host of firebats then came up behind them charging the zerg hives.

'Your using firebats?' asked Swallow incredulously.

'Yes, what of it?' asked Reikson 'Its part of the standard outfit.'

'Firebats are only useful in large groups.' said Swallow 'Lieutenant says they always take massive casualties. '

'To each his own, I guess.' said Reikson with a shrug, raising the com. 'Use stimpacks now.'

'Stimpacks?' asked Swallow in horror. 'Do you know what those do to a soldiers nervous system, sir?'

The Firebats surged forward with an extra boost of speed against the sunken colonies. The tentacles killed many of them as they approached but many got through and began burning them. A xenomorph garrison of hydralisks came out of nowhere and began shooting their spines into their ranks. The firebats ignored the spines being shot into them, mindlessly assaulting the sunken colonies, several of which were destroyed. Finally the last of them were finished off.

'Well thats alright,' said Reikson in amusement. 'There won't be anyone left to suffer long term side effects.'

To Liberty's disgust that got a couple of laughs from the reporters. Then he looked to them, and he realized they were afraid. Very afraid, unlike him they didn't have Alpha Squadron's protection. If Reikson didn't like the way they acted, he could have them killed. And he would, without a second thought. He didn't even care about his own men. Why would he care about the lives of someone who inconvenienced him?

'Omega Squadron advance and finish them off.' said Reikson.

The main force of Omega Squadron streamed forward and began a full blown assault. The weakened xenomorph hive was broken with relative ease. The sacrifices of their comrades had wedged the door open and now Omega Squadron was slaughtering the xenomorphs in great ranks. Their hatchery was torn to ribbons, their spawning pool was blown to smithereens. The hydralisks den was burned to ashes. The overlords were gunned down as they watched their children die around them.

Finally it was over. The main xenomorph hive was destroyed. Yet at the cost of many lives. Reikson opened communications. 'All forces, fan out and annihilate any remaining xenomorphs. Wipe them out to the last, don't stop for anything!'

The mop up cost the lives of several hundred more marines, primarily due to the careless way in which it was conducted. Omega Squadron was not like Alpha Squadron, their soldiers charged into battle, heedless of formation. Because of this attacks on the sunken colonies were disorganized, and many casualties were sustained before concentrated fire could be accomplished. Even so, they succeeded in their mission, though they were many fewer by the end of it.

He had more of them on the ship, so Reikson wasn't concerned.

'So lets review,' said Reikson 'I have saved several thousand colonists, wiped out thousands more xenomorphs, including one of their primary hive clusters, secured the path for our strategic retreat, and made space on my dropships for the first wave of refugees.' He gave a meaningful look to the reporters who were staying silent.

Seized by fear the immediately began applauding. One women smiled. 'Its great to know that the defense of the confederacy is in such credible hands, sir.'

Lieutenant remained absolutely silent, his eyes narrowed.

Emily Swallow looked to be having a crisis, and so she should. Her programming as a brain panned marine had her believe every word the confederacy said regardless of its truth. However for a time, under the Lieutenant of Alpha Squadron, what was said became the truth. Now she was faced with another face of the confederacy, one entirely opposed to what she had come to believe.

Of course she wouldn't say anything. Then she surprised Liberty. 'Were all those casualties really necessary sir?'

'Give it a rest, will ya?' said Reikson casually. 'They weren't a bunch of choir boys who spoke too loud in church, they were fucking psychos. The slime of the universe, brain panned to get them out of the confederacy's hair.

No ones going to mourn em, beautiful.'

Swallow looked down, completely cowed. Liberty had read Swallow's history, before she had been brain panned she'd been a serial killer. She'd lured young men with offers of sex, then flayed them alive. It didn't show of course, because who she was now was not who she'd been then.

Liberty pictured Swallow being torn apart by xenomorphs the way so many of the Omega Squadron marines had been. Then he looked at Reikson, accepting compliments and enjoying the fear on his sycophants faces and grew suddenly very angry. Then he looked to the Lieutenant, and he noticed the scars at the back of his neck. At one time he had been reprogrammed. Whatever he had done, however, it did not matter.

Reikson was less than half the man any of those Omega Squadron soldiers he'd sent to die had been.

Reikson threw a party later. They did not bother to attend.

* * *

A couple of hours later, while the Lieutenant was busy organizing the militia into a defensive fortification, and Reikson was personally overseeing the evacuation with much praise, Liberty almost started smoking again. He'd been trying to quit for the last few weeks, but after all that had happened, he barely cared anymore. He barely restrained himself, and instead leaned against the side of an alley. Emily Swallow was standing some ways away, looking very torn.

After a moment Liberty removed his old lighter and pulled out a cigerette. Fuck it.

However before he could light it he saw Emily Swallow's eyes widen, before something hit him in the back of the neck and he remembered no more.

* * *

Daggoth observed events with displeasure as the colonies Zazz had established to trap the terrans in place were annihilated. There were extensive forces standing by, that could have been deployed to halt the terran advance at any time. Yet Zsaz had not used them, and now the terrans were beginning a strategic withdrawal. This was unacceptable.

 **'** **Zasz, you have been too slow to reinforce the outlying colonies. The terrans have begun to evacuate the colony, even now their ships flee towards safety. Yield control to me. I will personally correct your error.'**

 _'_ _Peace, Daggoth,'_ replied Zsaz _'it is the Overminds will that they be allowed to escape. They have yet a part to play in his grand design.'_

And Daggoth knew this to be true. Thus he stayed his wrath, and turned his attention to fighting Alpha Squadron. The terrans had thus far put up a formidable resistance, but where the swarms forces were growing, their were diminishing. It would only be a matter of time before the terrans were forced to withdraw, or die.

It was only a matter of time.

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

Well here we have the next chapter of Starcraft Precursor. This was originally going to be Extermination, but I realized that the Omega Squadron sub plot would drag on a bit. So we're going to save the final mission for last.

Leave it to Reikson to make himself seem like a complete slimeball, even as he is committing undeniably good acts. My basic concept for him from the beginning more or less consisted of making an evil counterpart to the Lieutenant. The Lieutenant values his mens lives, and goes out of his way to gain victories for the betterment of the colony. Reikson has to be forced to do anything heroic, and when he does he cares nothing for the lives of his men.

Even so, I never imagined Reikson would become as much of a hate sink as I expected. Where Duke represents the better side of the Confederacy, Reikson represents the worst it has to offer.

I'm expecting perhaps two more chapters after this, followed by maybe an epilogue. Enjoy!


	7. Missing in Action

**Chapter Seven: Missing in Action**

The bridge of the Carrier Gantrithor was a combination of shimmering blue and gold packed into the scarab like vessel. Tassadar looked through his instruments and saw the barren world of Chau Sara, abuzz with life, abuzz with energy. The swarm was gradually overcoming the defenses. The terrans were fighting well, making what they called xenomorphs take many casualties for every inch of space. Yet even they realized they were only prolonging the inevitable.

'Judicator,' he said, turning to Aldaris 'we have entered into an orbit over Chau Sara. Our arbiters cloaking field has us completely hidden. Unless the terrans or xenomorphs know exactly what they are looking for, we are undetectable.'

'Well done,' said Aldaris 'how have the terrans faired against the xenomorphs?' His voice was controlled, Tassadar could sense no emotion from him.

'The terrans have cost the xenomorphs dearly for their advance.' said Tassadar 'However even they realize the futility of their efforts. With your permission, I would like to wait until they have evacuated before we launch our assault.'

'It will take some hours to properly ready our ships for bombardment in any case.' mused Aldaris 'We will continue to observe the situation. The longer this battle drags out, the more of the swarm will be annihilated when we launch our attack.' He made his way over to the window and looked down upon the planet below. 'And if the terran fleets remain intact, it will make our future operations that much easier.' Then he fell silent.

Aldaris remained silent for a long time, long enough that Tassadar became concerned. He approached behind him. 'Are you well, Aldaris?'

'These humans are at their best here.' said Aldaris 'And their worst. Here at the end of their hopes, when oblivion is at hand. It is here that ones true nature becomes apparent.'

'I have observed that amongst my own people.' said Tassadar. 'Perhaps we are not quite so different as the Conclave believes.'

'You do not know of what you speak, Executor.' said Aldaris grimly. 'Or you would not be so quick to compare us to them. Begin moving your fleet into position, events may change quickly and we must be ready.'

Tassadar gave up. Aldaris never spoke about his history with the terran species. It was something he simply refused to touch on, save when necessary. Tassadar had held an interest in the subject, but the Conclave had had the records on Aldaris' operations sealed. What Tassadar did know was that there were a large number of people on that world with myths and legends pertaining to the Judicator in their minds.

How that had happened, it seemed, would remain a mystery.

* * *

The surface of Mar Sara was much like Chau Sara, barren, rocky and filled with minerals. However Mar Sara was notable for two things, first it was not being quite as profitable as Chau Sara, and so had not been as prominent as the larger colony. Instead, it had been terraformed little by little to other purposes. This played into the other primary difference.

The Office of the Colonial Magistrate on Mar Sara was a somewhat run down skyscraper, whose security had been beefed up a bit since it was adapted for that purpose. The walls had been reinforced, and the windows made bulletproof. It was the center of operations for the colony as a whole, and everyone from miners to veterans had a stake in what happened here.

Jim Raynor and Magistrate Hammond looked at the computer screen before them. Raynor was a tall, muscular man with a buzz cut and a slight stubble. He wore a cold weather green jacket, and casual jeans and had a pistol at his side. He was looking at the computer screen incredulously.

'You want us to take refugees?' asked Hammond, a balding man whose hair was somewhat graying. 'How many.'

'The entire remaining population of Chau Sara,' stated Constantino Terra 'a little less than ten thousand. I trust you can handle it.' A member of the Old Families making a personal request that they _help people_? This was new.

'Ten thousand?' asked Raynor incredulously. 'That will double the population of Mar Sara! And we're not exactly a colony overflowing with resources, you know.'

'The Chau Sara Colony will retain most of their portable equipment,' said Terra quickly. 'They will be somewhat self-sufficient. And I will see what I can do to arrange for food shipments and other essential supplies. For now, you must begin making preparations to find a suitable landing site, and arrange housing for them.'

'We'll do what we can sir.' said Hammond quickly. 'But this is happening very quickly.'

'Everything is happening quickly these days,' said Constantino bitterly. 'There is one other thing because of the nature of this crisis, it is possible that we may arrange for new leadership to take charge of this colony.'

'You mean to replace me?' asked Hammond.

'It's nothing personal, Magistrate,' said Terra 'you have been entirely satisfactory as an administrator thus far. However the Confederacy believes that a more militarily experienced leader might be in order, given the nature of the xenomorph threat. We'll need you to set things up for the succession.

I'll leave you to it.'

The computer screen winked out and there was silence for a moment. Raynor scoffed. 'Well if the aid the Confederacy sends this time is anything like last time, the whole lot of them will be dead within the week.'

'I'd better get to work.' said Hammond, ignoring the personal vendetta referenced. 'Make sure everyone knows what's going on. Raynor, can you scout out an area suitable for constructing a new settlement?'

'Sure,' said Raynor 'I'll get some boys and clear out any of the critters hanging around.' He drew his pistol and spun it around with practiced ease before sheathing it.

'Be careful Jim.' said Hammond.

'Hey,' said Raynor 'it's fine.'

Then he made his way out of the command center.

* * *

A few hours later Raynor and his men moved across the barren flats. His signature vulture, a cyan painted bike of sorts, hummed with energy as he kept at a low speed while his militia trudged alongside him in their marine suits. As they marched onwards they could see dust clouds picking up as the xenomorphs approached them.

'Sir, there are more of them thingys coming at us.' said one.

'Open fire boys,' said Raynor, before launching a grenade from his vulture. The projectile span through the air and landed amidst the center of the zerg formation, blasting a group of xenomorphs to pieces. The marines next to him lowered their guns and opened fire en masse. Their rounds tore through the zerg ranks in great swaths, and before they had reached them all the zerg were dead, all several hundred of them. 'keep up the patrol, we'll want to take out as many of these critters as we can before the colonists arrive.

Otherwise a lot of good people could end up dead.'

'Don't need to tell me twice,' said a soldier 'hunting these zerg is easy as pie.'

'I think their called xenomorphs.' said Raynor.

'Yeah, well xenomorphs ain't exactly easy to say.' said a soldier. 'So I call them zerg.'

'Fine, but it'll never catch on.' said Raynor. 'Now lets keep scanning. If you find any caves don't go into them. These things will be more dangerous at close quarters, so we'll handle those once we've cleared out the outside.

Remember, we've still got time. So stay frosty and don't get reckless.'

Raynors men were, for the most part, veterans of the guild wars. In the aftermath of the Kel'morian Combines surrender, disgust with the outcome of the war mixed with the inherent corruption of the system bubbled over. Mass resignations ensued as men and boys across the sector left the army, frequently taking their weapons with them. Whole pirate gangs arose over night, and to make matters worse the corruption which had been allowed to flourish in the Guild Wars now paid the Confederacy back. Anyone with the right connections and sufficient cash could buy themselves an entire armory. And many had.

Mar Sara had become a colony where veterans of the Guild Wars gathered for a new chance at life. Their weapons and equipment ensured that the less martially capable colonists were left alone by pirates and raiders. Even so, there had always been trouble, and these xenomorphs or zerg or whatever they were called were just the latest batch of it.

Hopefully things would blow over once the Squadrons finished up. Certainly the news reports seemed positive, and Hammond's connections on Chau Sara had backed them up. Whatever was going on, Raynor doubted he'd have much of a role to play.

Another group of zerg were annihilated by the marines and Raynors vulture.

'All in a days work,' reflected Raynor.

* * *

There was a scurrying among the men of Alpha Squadron within the base as the Lieutenant looked over reports from the militia just below a holographic image of the planet. They had stalemated the swarms advance in the passes and now refugees were streaming in through them, trying to escape the ravenous swarms which continued to advance. Reports showed that the first waves of the reinforcements expected from the swarm were landing even now, and Alpha Squadron had been hard pressed wiping out the standing forces on planet. If the enemy grew too numerous, the rows of bunkers which had been erected at the strategic points throughout the planet would be insufficient to hold them.

For now it was a stalemate, but the Lieutenant was beginning to think that a strategic retreat was really the only option in these circumstances. Although you would not think it to see the broadcasts, extolling the virtues of the Confederate Squadrons. They were, perhaps, a bit deceptive.

Reikson entered his office, and the Lieutenant did not look up to greet him. 'I am extraordinarily busy, sir.' he stated simply. He was in no mood for the man.

'So am I,' admitted Reikson 'what with all the refugees I've been transporting the Berserker V is beginning to get a bit cramped. I've decided I'm going to launch a new round of assaults against another zerg hive. Any recommendations?'

There were a number of hive clusters on the map from which the swarm could launch an assault, but the Lieutenant doubted Reikson would be able to destroy them, and wanted to spare his fellow Lieutenants men. 'No,' said Lieutenant 'I do not desire to be associated with one of your character. Please leave.'

'Harsh,' said Reikson, sitting down as though he owned the place. 'I heard Michael Liberty disappeared, along with his cute bodyguard. Real shame.' His insincerity was sickening.

'You know nothing of their whereabouts, Reikson?' asked Lieutenant, looking up for the first time to meet his eyes in suspicion as he set down the reports.

'I'm as astonished as you are.' said Reikson in mock surprise. 'Perhaps the villainous, mustache twirling Sons of Korhal kidnapped him and even now torment him horribly. One can only hope.' He leaned back in his seat.

'You are a disgrace to the Confederacy.' stated Lieutenant 'Now why are you here?'

'I am the Confederacy,' said Reikson, setting his hand on the globe of Chau Sara and spinning it. 'the physical manifestation of what it thinks, what it really thinks, of these dirt farmers in the flesh. Meanwhile you represent the paper thin propoganda thats been programmed into your brainwashed little head.' He moved one finger in little circles near his temple. 'The only reason we're even wasting time on this rock is because you talked to the press. The Old Families like to have a reputation as only moderately indifferent to the plight of the less fortunate.' He paused, face becoming angry at memories. 'You've annoyed them Lieutenant. You've forced them to take a direct hand when they wanted to sit back and watch TV while their profit margins rolled in. And they won't forget it.'

'My actions are done in service to a greater good than my own profit.' replied Lieutenant, glare intensifying. 'Can you say the same?'

'You haven't saved anyone!' said Reikson in contempt. 'Mar Sara is the sister colony to Chau Sara. Where do you think the xenomorphs are going to hit next? Only once they arrive on Mar Sara, they won't be news anymore.

You want to know a secret, Lieutenant. When the Confederacy annihilates an entire colony with biological weapons to hide a secret, nobody cares, because its business as usual. No one cares that Chau Sara is under threat, only that its aliens who are doing the threatening.

Once this place falls the xenomorphs killing people will be just another shock story. No ones going to care about Mar Sara, and everyone on it will die. Because we won't help it.' Reikson leaned forward, face predatory. 'Do you get it? You've pissed off the old families, made an enemy of the leader of Omega Squadron, and you are saving no one. I want you to remember that when a ghost is hanging you from a street lamp.'

'I don't need to justify myself to you.' said Lieutenant.

'Fine, believe what ya want.' said Reikson, leaning back with infuriating smugness. 'Just remember that this publicity stunt doesn't change anything. I've got connections, you don't. The worst that can happen to me is that I retire to some pleasure planet with a bunch of open thighed brainwashed sluts at my beck and call. There are other uses for neural resocialization tech, you know. But you don't need to worry about that. The best you can hope for is to live long enough to replace old Duke as the most unappealing bachelor in existence.

Maybe I'll commission that Swallow chick if she turns up. It shouldn't be too hard to get her reprogrammed again, though I hear when it happens twice there isn't much of a mind left. Still, its not her mind I'm interested-'

The Lieutenants hand snaked out of its own accord, and before he knew what he was doing he had gripped Reikson by the throat and was standing up to lift him up on one arm. Reikson grabbed his arm, desperately trying to break his hold as Lieutenant began to choke the life from him.

'The men you sent to die against the xenomorphs today were people!' roared Lieutenant 'They were men and women with their own hopes, dreams and goals. Yes, they were limited by what the Confederacy did to them, yes they did terrible things! Yet I doubt a spoiled wretch like you even bothered to read their stories! I know all their stories! I feel their dying thoughts in my mind! They are as much part of me as I am a part of Alpha Squadron!' Reikson tried to remove his gun, but the Lieutenant caught his hand and pulled the weapon away to throw it to the floor. 'I felt your mens deaths Reikson! I felt the rage you had fostered in them consume their thoughts until it was all they could feel! I heard their desperation as they were hacked down for the sake of an indifferent and monstrous system that put you in command!

You have ten seconds to give me a good reason not to kill you, damn the consequences.' He loosened his grip just slightly so he could speak. 'One, two, three-'

'Do you really think Duke can shelter you if you do this?!' said Reikson 'I have friends!'

'four, five, six-' continued Lieutenant.

'If you kill me you'll be put on trial!' said Reikson, desperation coming into his tone.

'seven, eight, nine-'

'It will deprive Chau Sara of two military commanders when it needs them most!' said Reikson desperately. 'Please… don't kill me…'

Lieutenant threw him to the ground and Reikson hit the floor, before scrambling away and grasping for his gun. Lieutenant brought out his own weapon with practiced ease and pointed it at Reikson, who halted and arose, slowly putting the weapon into its sheath. 'That, Lieutenant Reikson, is a good reason.'

'You won't get away with this…' said Reikson 'I won't let you.'

'We'll settle our differences after Chau Sara.' said Lieutenant 'Until then, if I see or hear from you again in any fashion that is not entirely professional, I will kill you. Do you understand?'

'Y-yes,' said Reikson.

'Good,' said Lieutenant 'now get the hell out of my office.'

Reikson fled and did not return for the rest of the campaign. For his part, the Lieutenant turned his attention to looking over the reports from the militia. Before he had arrived, several forward base camps of the militia were lost contact with. Presumedly overrun by the xenomorphs. Alpha Squadron had been mostly concerned with destroying the xenomorph hives, and the militia had been expected to hold the xenomorphs advance.

They were doing so now, but had Collins not requested his aid, the Lieutenant doubted they would have survived long enough for Omega Squadron to arrive. Alpha Squadron would have carved a swath through the xenomorphs, only to have those they were supposed to be protecting slaughtered by the creatures.

Liberty was not dead. Lieutenant had not felt his death cry, and given his proximity he would have. Perhaps if he scanned through their thoughts immediately before they had disappeared. Yes, why hadn't he thought of that. First he looked through Liberty's memories. The man had been under a great deal of stress, he'd been falling back into smoking, a habit which he had been trying to quit.

Then he noticed Emily Swallow's eyes widen. Swallow had seen something.

Lieutenant scanned through her thoughts of the day. She'd been conflicted, having doubts about the Confederacy after seeing Reikson in action. Eventually she had resolved these doubts by deciding to send a full report to someone in authority, she wasn't yet sure who, about Reikson's conduct. She was confident that whoever was in charge would see to it that the matter was corrected. Or so she told herself, but the truth was that her doubts regarding everything she believed were growing.

The Lieutenant had been there once. A long time ago.

Then she saw Sarah Kerrigan. It was only for a moment and then Liberty was knocked unconscious, followed by Swallow a moment later. They were unconscious, and their memories could be of no further use to the Lieutenant in finding them. Yet perhaps Sarah Kerrigan's could.

As soon as he looked through her thoughts, he had a window into her mind. She sensed the surface thoughts of others on a conscious level. It was a constant thing, and she could not control it. Lieutenant gained imprints of minds into his own, and could access their memories at will, yet they did not intrude without his leave. The closer he was to the person the stronger the imprint. Fortunately Kerrigan had filled his mind with her memories, and that had provided him with great insight into her character.

Her perceived at once that she was not here to kill Liberty. If she was it would be totally irrational. She dragged both him and Swallow to a truck which took off across the barren roads alone. It was noted by the militia, but Kerrigan had bluffed her way past and they had seen no reason to stop her.

Now they were heading north along the roads, and soon came to a militia outpost. A militia outpost which had been assumed destroyed, and was currently filled with Sons of Korhal soldiers. It looked like they were preparing for an offensive. Yet why would they risk exposure to bag Liberty?

Lieutenant didn't know, but he needed to inform General Duke of this. Not Reikson, he'd just fuck it up.

* * *

Liberty awoke inside a military bunk similar to the variety which was used in Alpha Squadron. He stood up, looking around. It was a dimly lit room with a number of other bunks surrounding them. It had probably been used to house soldiers at some point. Emily Swallow was standing by the door. 'Emily, what the hell just happened? Where are we?'

'I don't know.' said Emily 'However we should prepare ourselves for the worst. It was a Son of Korhal agent that captured us, and no one who has ever been captured them has returned alive.'

Liberty felt a lump in his throat. 'I think you might be exaggerating there.'

'No, no,' said Emily brightly 'Confederate information pamphlets are distributed to Alpha Squadron as reading material during our off hours. I collect them. Did you know that the Sons of Korhal orchestrated the bombing of their own homeworld to frame the Conferacy? The news even suspects that they might be in league with the alien menace.'

'Emily,' said Liberty 'those are just propaganda stories manufactured to confuse people. Nothing in them actually makes any sense or is real.'

'What are you talking about?' asked Emily 'If it wasn't real, why would the Confederacy let it be written down. They would never print slander.'

Liberty considered how best to break this to her gently. 'Okay, so the Confederacy wants things a certain way right? They want people to fight the Sons of Korhal, and serve the Confederacy.'

'Yes obviously, thats what all good people do.' said Emily.

'And Lieutenant Reikson,' deadpanned Liberty despite himself.

'He's an exception, and I mean to report him as soon as we get out of wherever we are.' said Emily defensively.

'Whatever,' the Liberty 'the point is that sometimes the reality of the situation doesn't match up the Confederacy's noble goals. So they… convince reporters and news stations to twist the truth a little to fit their goals a bit more.'

'Oh,' said Emily, smiling somewhat nervously. 'well I guess its for a good cause. Now we should plan our escape.'

'Your joking right?' asked Liberty.

'Of course not,' said Emily 'as prisoners of war it is our duty to escape.'

'We have no idea where we are, and we are on a planet being invaded by xenomorphs.' said Liberty 'We have no concept of the layout of wherever we are, even if we got past the front door. No, we're…' He considered things. 'We're going to play along for now, okay.'

'But won't the Sons of Korhal kill us?' asked Emily. 'Or do you think they will torture us for information first?'

'I doubt both,' said Liberty 'I'm a reporter and you're a ground pounder. We don't know anything they couldn't have seen on the news. And if they wanted us dead they could have just shot us.

No, they… they probably want something from us. This might have something to do with the stories we've been running. I don't know, I'm just guessing here.'

At that moment the door opened and the women Liberty had interviewed in Los Andares stepped through. She was flanked by two heavily armored marines. 'Michael Liberty,' she smiled demurely.

'Yes?' asked Liberty, taking a step back. 'What do you want?'

She stepped forward. 'I was wondering if you could run a story for me…'

* * *

 _'_ _Great Overmind, I have done as you commanded. By your will, the world of Mar Sara has been seeded with the swarm, and even now our hive clusters are beginning to rise over its surface. In time their strength will grow, and we will be able to overwhelm the terrans by force of numbers.'_

 ** _'_** ** _Well done Zsaz, by your hand the beginning of the end of the Confederacy has been sewn. Yet it shall not be accomplished by strength alone. For in their hubris the Confederates have conceived of themselves as the master of the swarm. For a time we shall indulge their overweening pride, that our victory may be achieved with greater ease._**

 ** _For the time shall soon come when the being known as Duran and his puppets shall awaken from their dreams of power, and find themselves in a greater nightmare.'_**

* * *

 **A** **uthors Note:**

Remember how I said two more chapters and then an epilogue? Yeah, the number just went up, this chapter dragged on quite a bit. Though we have our first appearance of Jim Raynor, and a bit of work from Constantino Terra. Oh and the Overmind reappears and reveals that he is aware of Duran's existence. He's kind of fallen out of the limelight recently, but I figured I'd bring him back.

Right now Chau Sara is in the midsts of a stalemate which is costing the zerg dearly. However like the Russian steamroller of World War 1, the zerg just keep on coming without end, heedless of casualties. The Confederates are more or less in the midsts of a retreat. However unlike in canon, the Confederacy is making the zerg pay in blood for every inch of space. The only question is whether this will make a difference in the long run.

On another note, dear god, Reikson is a complete slimeball. I know its redundant, but every time I write the guy he finds some new and inspirational way to make himself even more of an unlikable asshole. There was actually a period where I was considering having a character arc for him where he gradually becomes a better person, so much for that idea.


	8. A Matter of Opinion

**Chapter Eight: The Other side of the Story**

Liberty and Swallow were led through the Sons of Korhal base, their camera drone buzzing behind them. As they walked Liberty noticed something about some of the soldiers standing by. Swallow noticed it as well, and looked very disturbed. 'Liberty,' she said 'those men are part of the Chau Saran Militia. Magistrate Collins was afraid of a mutiny, that's why he called us.'

'They aren't rebelling if that's what you're afraid of.' said Kerrigan 'When we found them they were cut off from all support and out of communication. It looked like they would be overrun by the zerg, so we intervened and have been providing military support.'

'I'm guessing that is why you want me here.' said Liberty 'You want me to document your actions, so I can report them to the new channels.'

'You guessed it,' said Kerrigan 'of course we don't expect you to outright praise us, that would be suicide. But we'd greatly appreciate it if you got across that we were here, and that we took action against the zerg in favor of the colonists.'

'Thus preventing the Confederacy from pinning it all on you,' guessed Liberty.

'You catch on quick, Liberty.' said Kerrigan. 'Will you help us?'

'What if I say no?' asked Liberty.

Kerrigan paused. 'Well then there is a car waiting outside that will take you wherever you want to go. We're not going to push the matter.'

Liberty considered it for a moment. 'Alright, fine, I'll do it.'

'Liberty,' said Emily 'this is treason!'

'No its not,' said Liberty 'I am a reporter. I am supposed to document the truth. If I just walk off now I'll be passing up the opportunity to see what really happens inside the Sons of Korhal. Not just what the propaganda-'

'Informational documents.' Emily corrected him.

'-the informational documents says.' finished Liberty. The beginnings of a plan, and how he would spin it came to mind.

'Great, glad to have you on board.' said Kerrigan 'Oh and if either of you try anything, you will both be dead in seconds. I was a Confederate Ghost before I joined the Sons of Korhal.'

Liberty shuddered. 'Understood.'

Emily swallowed said nothing. They stopped by a door, and here Kerrigan halted and turned to them. 'He's waiting for you inside.' Pressing a button, the door slid open and they walked through to find a man clad in a suit of white marine armor looking over a map. He had dark skin and a graying black stubble and was scanning over a series of charts next to a map. 'Ah, Kerrigan, you've brought him. Well done.'

'Liberty,' said Kerrigan 'this is General Warfield of the Sons of Korhal. He's currently in command of events.' She glanced to Swallow. 'You'd be dead in seconds.'

'Emily, don't do anything stupid.' said Liberty, before walking forward. 'I've heard about you, sir. Confederate reports indicate that you were a war criminal who went over to Sons of Korhal for a place in the new order they intended.'

Warfield smiled slightly. 'Confederate reports say a lot of things. I stopped paying attention to them some time ago, to be honest. Our only concern at the moment is this operation.'He motioned to a map, which showed the militia base and two xenomorph hives of great size to the northeast of their position. There was a secondary outpost of the Sons of Korhal on the rocks above the base. 'We're here,' said Warfield, motioning to the militia base. 'and the zerg have been launching assaults on us from the north and northwest for some hours. At one point they were also coming from the south, but since Omega Squadron entered the picture that hive cluster has been destroyed.

He motioned to a map, which showed the militia base and two xenomorph hives of great size to the northeast of their position. There was a secondary outpost of the Sons of Korhal on the rocks above the base. 'We're here,' said Warfield, motioning to the militia base. 'and the zerg have been launching assaults on us from the north and northwest for some hours. At one point they were also coming from the south, but since Omega Squadron entered the picture that hive cluster has been destroyed.

Our position is pretty secure, so we're holding off on evacuating civilians until after we finish our business in these parts. We don't want Alpha and Omega Squadron alerted since we're trying to keep the focus on the zerg threats.'

'What exactly is the mission, if you don't mind me asking?' asked Liberty.

'Our plan is the complete annihilation of the zerg hives in this region.' said Warfield.

'When we first got here, our focus was mostly on getting the militia organized into holding it's own.' put in Kerrigan 'Now that the outpost is largely secure, we've been landing troops in preparation for an assault on their primary zerg hive clusters.'

'We're about to commence operation.' grunted Warfield 'Follow me.'

'What are these zerg you keep mentioning?' asked Swallow suddenly. 'I've never heard of them.'

There was a pause. 'The creatures invading Chau Sara,' said Kerrigan. 'apparently, its Confederate lingo to call them xenomorphs.'

'Xenomorphs is what they are.' said Swallow 'That is what they were named when the first contact was made. And it's what they are going to go down in history as,'

'I'm not interested in what the Confederacy has labeled the zerg as.' said Warfield. 'Now let's move. We've got a timetable.'

Readying a gauss rifle, Warfield led them out to where his men were readied for combat. They had a large number, and their weapons were well polished. They stood with a certain discipline Alpha Squadron had lacked. Emily looked impressed. 'Those weapons they have, their on par with what the Lieutenant gives us.' she whispered to Liberty.

Warfield walked before his men, who stood to attention. 'Alright listen up you scoundrels, the zerg hold a pass to the north of here. Its guarded by a number of sunken colonies. In order for our operation to succeed this pass has to be taking, and you're the ones who are going to do the taking. Your job is to burn those sunken colonies and anything that tries to help them! Any questions?!'

'Shouldn't we have firebats with us, sir?' asked a marine.

'Excellent question,' said Warfield 'the reason we're not using any is because the sunken colonies are situated far away from each other. If we play our cards right we should be able to take them out one at a time and minimize casualties. A firebat would have to get so close that they would get caught in a crossfire.

Remember, you go in, you smash em with minimum casualties and then you hold the pass! If I catch any of you boys trying to play hero and assault the hive, I will personally flay you alive! Your numbers aren't sufficient for that kind of operation. You're there to wedge open the door, not charge in guns blazing. Am I clear?!'

'Sir, yes, sir!' snapped the soldiers.

'Move out!'

Liberty smiled, he couldn't help himself. He liked this General, a hell of a lot more than he liked any other commanders he'd met so far. Duke had always come across as only a nominal hero, using the situation to advance his career. The Lieutenant was vaguely moral, but he was… odd, distant and calculating, he didn't seem entirely human. Reikson wasn't even in the running.

'The operation went off without a hitch. Warfield and his forces trailed behind the vanguard who isolated the sunken colonies and tore them to shreds from afar. When the zerg, or xenomorphs sallied forth to attack them, the marines retreated out of range of the sunken colonies then turned to annihilate the attacking zerg. The creatures died by the hundreds and claimed no one. There were a number of unfortunate marines who were torn to shreds by the sunken colonies, but by dividing and conquering the vanguard wiped them out.

As they advanced behind them the pass grew very tight, before suddenly widening as the vanguard destroyed the last sunken colony. Here they halted in silent obedience and awaited the rest of their forces. Warfield personally addressed them.

'Well done men,' said Warfield. 'the second wave will take it from here.' He glanced to his forces who had advanced to them. 'Move into the main hive! Keep up the pressure but don't rush in! Remember, there are still sunken colonies and we want to destroy them one at a time! I don't want anyone dying out there who doesn't have to! Understood?!'

'Sir yes sir!'

'Now go to it!' said Warfield.

The soldiers of the Sons of Korhal descended on the hive and were met with heavy resistance as thousands of zerg rushed from the surrounding cliffs to defend the hive clusters. Yet they formed ranks and opened fire en masse, slaughtering the creatures as they came. As the bodies piled up the zerg continued to press on. The screams of the dying, both human and inhuman echoed constantly.

Finally when all the creatures lay dead, true to the General's commands, began a systematic annihilation of the hive cluster. By this time Liberty had seen it done many times, but he was impressed with how Warfield's forces conducted themselves. Alpha Squadron sometimes seemed more like a single entity centered around the Lieutenant than a squad of many people. They worked in unison to accomplish their goal, with single-minded coordination. The Lieutenant had some kind of psychic hold over them all.

Warfield's men were all individuals. They worked together with discipline, but it wasn't like marching ants. They cheered when they won, grieved over the bodies of their fallen. They talked and laughed with each other when they had spare time. Yet they fought with a deadly efficiency rivaling Alpha Squadron. Hundreds of zerg swarmed out of the highlands, but Warfield's men slew them with careful discipline, before returning to their grisly work.

Finally the hives defenses were no more. Warfield's men then halted to begin tending to their wounded, and setting explosives on the remaining structures. Emily Swallow, however, looked to be having a crisis of faith, and Kerrigan kept glancing at her, sensing her thoughts no doubt. Finally Swallow turned to Kerrigan. 'How can you work for him?'

'Warfield?' said Kerrigan, though being a telepath she probably knew who she was really referring to.

'No, not Warfield!' snapped Swallow 'Mengsk! You aren't bad people, and you are capable of making a difference, so why would you work for that monster?!'

Kerrigan sighed. 'Would you believe its because we think he's a better alternative to the Confederacy? Of course not, I've read minds like yours before. You believe firmly that the Confederacy is the end all and be all of existence, unto god himself, simply because you've been programmed to think that way.

Who are you beyond simply a soldier of Alpha Squadron? Have you ever asked that question?'

'You don't know me.' stated Swallow simply. 'You might have read my mind, but that doesn't mean you understand it! The Confederacy isn't perfect, there are bad people in positions of authority, but Mengsk is a damn terrorist!'

'The usual label.' said Kerrigan dryly.

'Oh really?' asked Swallow 'Didn't he initiate a wraith attack on a Confederate Mining facility on Rogus V and kill everyone there?'

Kerrigan halted. 'Well… yes, but that was a military target.'

'Military target?' asked Swallow 'Just because there goliaths protecting it doesn't make it a military target. They were there as protection against you! You flew over there in your cloaked fighters, and you murdered the SCVs doing the mining and drove the survivors to the camp. You then spent the next day killing every person in that place, and killing anyone who tried to send help. It was a massacre plain and simple.

And that wasn't even the end of it! Do you have any idea how many people lost their jobs because you decided to blow up a civilian mining operation simply because it was owned by a member of the Old Families?! And it gets worse, because that was meant as an experiment, the beginnings of economic growth! Once the Sons of Korhal started operating on Rogus V no one wanted to invest in it! You caused an economic depression which that world has yet to recover from!'

'Nice speech,' said Kerrigan 'I'll bet you tell yourself that every night so you can sleep. As long as we're on the subject of economics how about I bring up the Guild Wars. You know, that massive sector wide war that claimed billions of lives. The Confederates deliberately engineered the war with the Kel'morian Combine so that the Old Families could make a lot of money with war profiteering. It devastated countless worlds while the Old Families gloated about how much money they were making.'

'The Kel'morians were a brutal collection of thugs engaged in a constant gang war that was crushing ordinary good people underfoot!' replied Swallow 'If the Confederacy hadn't forced them to organize then Moria would still be in a state of anarchy! At the very least we bring order, which is more than can be said for you!'

'To be fair,' said Liberty 'they are defending the colony.'

This is a publicity stunt!' snapped Swallow 'Its so paper thin they actually kidnapped a reporter to do it! Mengsk doesn't care about making the sector a better place, this is all about power! If he did he wouldn't have been targeting civilians!'

'Targeting civilians?' asked Kerrigan, showing signs of anger. 'The Confederacy constantly targets civilian operations! Before the Guild Wars, they were consistently moving in with their militaries to seize by force that which wasn't theres to begin with! All the Confederacy does is target the good innocent people you describe! Do you know how many jobs have been destroyed because the Old Families put all their competitors out of business through intimidation and protection rackets? Do you know how many lives are destroyed when the Confederacy jacks up prices on essential products just to make a quick buck?! But you know what, I will admit that the Sons of Korhal have done terrible things that we regret. Hell, you might even have a leg to stand on if your fleets hadn't taken up a position over Korhal and consumed the entire surface in nuclear fire!'

There was silence. For a moment Emily remained silent, searching for a response. Finally she spoke: 'Mengsk would do exactly the same thing to Tarsonis without a second thought.'

That statement actually got to Kerrigan, and for a moment she looked very uncertain. 'You don't know him.' she snapped 'You can read all about someone and still not understand them. You've done your research, I'll give you that, but I've had first hand experience with the Confederate variety of order.

And you could say the same, if they hadn't torn your old identity to shreds.'

Emily Swallow was very silent. Michael Liberty looked around and realized that they had picked up something of an audience. He decided that now would be a very good time to move on, and made his way over to Warfield who was speaking over his communicator. Swallow followed silently behind him. 'Are you sure of this sir? Yes, I think the militia can handle themselves in the meantime. Understood, I'll get to it.' He breathed out and turned to face Liberty.

'We've just received a report that there is a detachment of Omega Squadron troops heading this way.' said Warfield 'Since our operation is supposed to aid in the defense of the colony, I've been ordered to withdraw and let the Confederacy take it from here.' He opened a channel. 'Alright men, we're pulling out. I've called the dropships so make ready for evac!' He looked to Liberty. 'If you have any questions, now is the time to ask them.'

'Right,' said Liberty 'what kind of effect do you imagine your efforts will have on the war effort?'

'Well we've observed that the zerg don't like attacking too far from their hives.' said Warfield 'We think their communications get spotty. At the least this part of the colony should hold long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Anything else really depends on how well Omega Squadron does its job.

I was hoping to wipe out both hives, but I'm satisfied with my results.'

At that moment many red painted dropships came over the cliffside, landing near them. The force of their engines sent Liberty's longcoat flowing around him as they touched down. Their ramps opened wide before them, and the forces of the Sons of Korhal began to climb aboard. The wounded were loaded first, followed by the infantry, with last of all Warfield and Kerrigan making their way up onto the dropship.

The ramps closed shut and the dropships took off before flying away, leaving the hives in ashes behind them. The Sons of Korhal had left Chau Sara. Liberty looked to Emily who watched the ships fly higher and higher on the horizon. Finally he spoke: 'Well I think we should head back to base.'

'Yes,' said Emily, looking very conflicted. 'lets go.'

They turned and walked on foot away from the decaying remnants of the hive clusters. As they did so they were met halfway by a massive force of Omega Squadron Marines who marched in great ranks. Their weapons and equipment looked better than they had last time, and they leered and snarled audibly as they pressed on.

Guns were lowered at them and they stopped in place.

'Well, well, well,' said a marine 'what do we have here?'

'Don't shoot,' said Liberty 'I'm a reporter. We were-'

'I don't rightly care who you are.' said the marine 'I'm thinking I could spray your brains all over the rocks and nobody would ever know. Care to give me a reason not to?'

'We only recently escaped from the Sons of Korhal!' said Emily quickly, fake panic in her tone. 'We have vital information about their operations on the planet. We need to get this to our officers. If you shoot us, you will be violating the interests of the Confederacy.'

'…Is that so?' asked the marine 'Well I guess I'll call Lieutenant Reikson and see what he thinks about all this.' He opened a transmission. 'Sir, we've got two stragglers who claim to have information on the Sons of Korhal. One of them is a reporter, the other one looks to have been brain panned at some point, though she's pretty cute.' There was a response, though they could not hear it. 'What are your names?'

'Roran,' said Liberty quickly. 'my name is Roran Mustang.' He prayed they wouldn't ask for an ID.

Emily gave him a look, before glancing back to the soldier. 'I'm Emily Swallow, a soldier of Alpha Squadron. We were captured by the Sons of Korhal. Now let us pass, we need to speak to our commander.'

'One of them says he's named Roran Mustang, the other is Emily Swallow.' said the soldier. There was a statement on the com. He looked up. 'My orders are to escort Emily Swallow back to base for debriefing. Mustang, do whatever you want.'

'This is highly irregular,' said Emily 'I don't report to Lieutenant Reikson.'

'You do now.' replied the soldier 'Come quietly, we'd rather not break any of your bones.'

Helpless, Liberty watched as Emily was separated from him and taken back towards the base camp, while he made his way onwards. He had no idea what was going on, but he trusted Reikson as far as he could throw them. As he made his way towards the base, Emily was taken into the command center. Omega Squadron Marines were everywhere.

There was no way to get him out on his own.

'The Lieutenant,' he realized 'I have to tell him about this.'

He saw that there were a number of trucks being loaded with refugees. Racing up to the Omega Squadron soldier overseeing it, he greeted him. 'Excuse me sir, is this heading towards the starport to the south of here?'

'Yeah,' said the soldier 'why? You one of the sheep?' His tone held contempt in it.

'As a matter of fact, yes.' said Liberty 'I need to get on.'

'Fine, then get in.' said the soldier 'Quickly, I ain't got all day to babysit you livestock.'

Liberty scaled into the truck and leaned against the seat as the truck's engine roared to life and it drove off on its own. He only hoped he could find help before it was too late.

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

And once again this story has extended itself beyond what I had originally planned. At this rate, it's going to be a hundred chapters before we finally get off Chau Sara. Every time I finish one subplot, another one raises its head.

At this point I just want to get to rebel yell, but who knows when that will happen?

Anyway, I hope I got General Warfield in character. He is a bit difficult to write for me, and I had to go over his lines twice to make sure they fit with his character. I simply don't buy that he was doing nothing while the zerg were invading the sector.


	9. Breaking Point

**Chapter Nine: Breaking Point**

It was the very same command room which had been used by the Sons of Korhal a few hours ago. Now it was occupied by Omega Squadron marines, who leered and glared at everyone who entered. Emily Swallow did not want to be here. It made sense of course, for her to be debriefed, but it should have been by her superior officer. Reikson was not part of Alpha Squadron's chain of command.

She found Reikson looking over a series of maps, and as she was escorted in he looked up. 'Ah, your here. The local militia tells me that you and Liberty were captured by the Sons of Korhal during our operations here. Is that correct?'

'Yes sir,' said Emily 'however they have left the planet by now.'

'I'm aware,' he said 'and from what my vanguard informs me they wiped out an entire xenomorph hive in the process. Would you care to explain why they wanted you and Liberty?'

'They…' Swallow remained silent. 'they wanted Liberty to run a story for them.'

'I see,' said Reikson, before glancing to a soldier. 'send a transmission to the starport. Tell them that I want the refugee transport carrying Liberty to have an unfortunate accident. Make sure there is a weapons malfunction.'

'Sir,' said Emily your're going to kill citizens of the Confederacy if you do that?'

'Of course,' said Reikson 'it's essential that I prevent him from releasing that data.

'But Liberty hasn't betrayed the Confederacy.' said Emily desperately. 'He's only going to release what he saw.' She shifted. 'What harm could the truth do?'

'Quite a bit actually,' said Reikson, before looking to the soldier. 'do it.'

'There are over fifty innocent civilians on that truck sir.' said the ensign. 'There has got to be another-'

'Every moment that passes increases the likelihood that he could release that data.' said Reikson 'Or edit it, or send it to someone else.'

'There is another problem,' said an ensign. 'we don't know exactly which truck he is on. If we pick the wrong one-'

'Order the strike on all of them then!' snapped Reikson.

'You're talking about killing five hundred people we just saved.' said the ensign.

'These people were saved by the Sons of Korhal, they will probably become their agents.' snapped Reikson 'Now stop coming up with excuses and get moving.'

The ensigns obeyed without further questions. Reikson looked furious, as though stewing over some inner doubt he despised.

'There must be another way sir.' said Emily, in a small tone.

'There was another way.' spat Reikson 'You could have told us who Roran Mustang really was as soon as Liberty lied to us. If you'd done that we could have splattered his brains across the rocks and been done with things, no collateral.' He paused as though not understanding. 'You've been programmed for loyalty to the Confederacy. Why didn't you?'

Emily didn't know what to say. According to the system of ranks which she had been taught to respect, always respect, she should have revealed what Liberty had done from the very beginning. He'd had an opportunity to leave, and he hadn't taken it. So why hadn't she? 'Because you would have killed him.' she said 'Even if he had destroyed the data as soon as the Sons of Korhal left he would have had to lie to protect himself because you would have killed him anyway.'

Reikson's expression grew even darker then, and his hand shook. Then he grew still and smirked. 'The Confederacy doesn't care about its citizens. Why should I? Whatever the case, you were a part of Liberty's conspiracy so I get to do whatever I want to you.'

'If I have in anyway dishonored Alpha Squadron it is General Duke who should judge me.' said Swallow, stepping back a pace.

'Yes,' said Reikson, his smirk becoming predatory. 'but the laws are currently an inconvenience to me, so I'm going to ignore them. I think you'll find that in the grand scheme of things, might makes right.'

'Alpha Squadron will never stand for this.' said Swallow as her arms were grabbed from behind. 'You'll make an enemy of my superiors.'

'Yes, but they made an enemy of me first.' said Reikson 'Ready her for brain panning!'

Two guards gripped her and Emily was dragged away, trying to keep calm. Trying to maintain her cool, trying to find a way out, even as she didn't do anything to struggle. Yet she could see absolutely nothing. She was ultimately unimportant. A brain panned marine who had survived with a greater level of her intelligence intact. Alpha Squadron would continue to function without her.

Her programming told her to accept authority, to accept her fate. Except…

Emily Swallow was not just some pretty ensign. She had been chosen to guard Liberty because she had survived three direct assaults on pirate bases. She had won a great deal of glory for herself in the field, and so was almost made a Lieutenant. When she had been passed up for a soldier who had just entered Alpha Squadron under mysterious circumstances she accepted the matter without complaint.

She was not accepting now. She was a soldier, and Reikson was breaking the chain of command for his own ends. And right now hundreds of citizens lives depended on her acting. So as soon as they were out of sight of the marine suited soldiers, she pulled her hands-free of the guards, slammed ones head against the wall, and then roundhouse kicked the other across the face.

She was free, but the fact would soon be discovered. She needed to find a communicator. It was fortunate that command centers were traditionally all built the same way. Racing through the command center, she entered a room where she knew the communications and entered it. A man was standing there and as he looked up she dealt him a right hook which sent him falling to the ground.

Rushing to the communicator's equipment she opened up a channel to Lieutenant's marine armor on reflex. As she did so she tapped her foot anxiously, waiting desperately.

'Lieutenant here,' said a voice. 'what is Reikson's purpose in this call.'

'Lieutenant sir,' said Emily 'Reikson is about to launch an attack on a civilian convoy bound for the starport! You've got to stop him-'

And then everything went black.

* * *

By coincidence Lieutenant had been gathering a strike force of Alpha Squadron marines specifically for the purpose of evacuating both Liberty and Swallow from the Sons of Korhal, using force if necessary. By the time he'd arrived at the Starport with his forces, however, he had learned that Reikson had already secured the area. He'd noted a group of Omega Squadron garrison marines abandoning their posts on some unknown mission, but he hadn't thought about what it might be.

The Lieutenant heard a thud on the other end. 'Swallow!' he cried. 'Are you alright?'

'I'm afraid the good little soldier girl isn't going to be returning any of your calls from now on.' said Reikson in a cold tone.

Mentally the Lieutenant began leading his forces out after the Omega Squadron strike force. 'If you hurt her, I will-'

'You'll do what?' asked Reikson 'She's under my jurisdiction, and nobody will convict me for disappearing one brain panned soldier. I'm looking forward to seeing what she looks like naked personally.'

'If you succeed, I will kill you for this.' said Lieutenant. It was a simple statement of fact.

'…I'd like to see you try.' said Reikson.

'We don't have time for this.' realized Lieutenant 'Call off your soldiers before they start a massacre.' He could see the convoy making its way through a pass beyond the nearby cliffs. 'Now!'

'I don't take orders from you.' hissed Reikson 'All units, fire at will!'

The sound of gaussfire broke out, hitting the armored convoy which shuddered. Omega Squadron had scaled the cliffs and were firing down upon from above. The metal plating of the trucks would provide some protection, but it was only a matter of time before they fell to pieces and everyone died. An automated machinegun on top one of the trucks returned fire before it was blasted off.

'Alpha Squadron,' said the Lieutenant 'scale the cliffs and destroy any Omega Squadron forces you find there! Weapons free, I repeat weapons free!'

* * *

Within the convoy, Liberty heard the sound of gauss rounds ricocheting off the hull and realized that this was his fault. People huddled together, terrified as the driving stepped on the gas. A child clung to her mothers arms.

'Why are they shooting at us mommy, I thought the marines were here to protect us.'

This was Liberty's fault. He didn't know how Reikson had found out he was here, but there was only one reason why they would be attacking a convoy. He tried to say something, tried to think of something he could do. Yet there was nothing. Even if he threw himself into the gunfire, the marines would only kill him then everyone else.

So he prayed. He prayed to whatever god was listening that someone would save him, save everyone in this convoy.

Then he turned to his camera drone and sent it to get a better look at the battlefront. Just in case he got out of this alive, he got himself a perfect shot of the Omega Squadron Marines blasting a truck filled with cowering refugees.

He was nothing if not prepared. He drew the camera back and began to speak into it.

'This is Michael Liberty, I'm here in a convoy of refugees which has just come under attack by Omega Squadron marines! I repeat, Omega Squadron has launched an assault on a civilian convoy! You can heard the gunfire behind me if you listen carefully. I have no idea what the motive behind this attack is, but Reikson has a lot to answer for whatever it is.'

* * *

Lieutenant reached the top of the cliff ahead of the rest of his marines and raced forward to see the Omega Squadron forces there. Two of them turned to him and raised their guns, but the Lieutenant blasted them both down in moments. Then Alpha Squadron arrayed itself in full force, lowered its guns and opened fire. The brown clad Omega Squadron marines were torn to pieces, their bodies sent falling down to the valley below.

It was done. Yet with this action, Lieutenant suspected he had started something far worse.

* * *

Reikson saw the monitors flare to life and knew what was happening as an ensign turned to face him. 'Lieutenant Reikson sir, Alpha Squadron has attacked us! They wiped out our hit Squad. Sir… what are your orders?'

'This is perfect,' said Reikson 'I can have that bastard dead and not have to answer to anybody. Call up our standing forces at the starport, bring them in and wipe out that Alpha Squadron group. Kill everyone. We'll say the convoy got caught in the crossfire of Alpha Squadron's unprovoked assault.'

'Yes, sir.' said the ensign.

A transmission came in from another source.

'Sir,' said a marine 'we've reached the xenomorph hives. Awaiting your orders.'

'Launch the assault,' snapped Reikson 'and stop bothering me I'm busy.' He'd taken that part of the army off the rage serum and all of a sudden they wanted him to hand walk them through everything.

* * *

The forces of Omega Squadron charged as one with a mass roar towards the xenomorph hive, firing as they went. At once many of them were torn apart by sunken colonies. At the same time, a flying creature unlike anything else they had seen before flew forward and launched a swath of green webbing at them. It tied up half the line, slowing the assault as the other half raced ahead.

Hydralisks rushed forward and killed marines in great numbers, though they suffered many casualties themselves. A sunken colony fell. Yet ahead of them were many more, and the xenomorphs were massing behind them.

Worse still the marines could not get a clear shot at the sunken colonies, for an evolution chamber had been erected in front of it. As they shot helplessly, their numbers dwindled. Hundreds died on both sides, but the xenomorphs had more where that came from.

At last, the netting faded, and the rest of the group was able to support their comrades. In a blaze of gunfire they slaughtered the attacking zerglings and hydralisks. Yet the sunken colonies continued to kill them, and their numbers were dwindling. And yet more forces were on their way.

Sergeant Auburn had become the commander when he'd watched his commanding officer get torn to shreds by a sunken colony's tentacles. He knew that they couldn't continue like this. 'Lieutenant Reikson sir, we… we need to retreat. We're being overwhelmed!'

'Belay that order!' snapped Reikson 'Push forward, and kill as many of them as you can! I'll finish off the xenomorphs once you've weakened them.'

Sergeant Auburn halted. He suddenly realized that he did not want to die. That none of his men wanted to die. Reikson wanted them to do as much damage as possible before they were all slaughtered. Their lives meant nothing to him. He wanted to call a retreat then more than ever.

But… Reikson would not have ordered the assault if there wasn't a purpose behind it. What if they retreated now and the war was lost because of that disobedience. They of Omega Squadron had all done terrible things, though they could not remember them now. Auburn had looked up his own file a long time ago. He'd… he'd been a child murderer.

Reikson didn't value their lives because their lives didn't matter. Their purpose was to die for the Confederacy. 'All units advance!' cried Auburn, following his orders.

In a display of unparalleled bravery, Auburn and his men went down fighting, destroying several Sunken Colonies and breaking the gate open, before at last being overrun and killed to the man.

Their sacrifice was in vain.

* * *

'The gunfire has stopped. I'm not sure why I'm sending out the camera drone to get a closer look. Okay… okay, it looks as though someone has killed the Omega Squadron Marines down below. I'm seeing Alpha Squadron Marines on the clifftop above. I'm going to head to the front seat and see what we can find.'

Ahead of them, Liberty saw many brown painted marines approaching the cliffs, firing upon the white-clad soldiers atop them. Gunfire was traded between the two of them, and several brown and white marines fell dead beneath the shots fired.

This is… we're seeing Omega Squadron Marines heading up to the clifftop. Their assaulting Alpha Squadrons position! There seems to be a pitched battle going on between Alpha and Omega Squadron! We've pulled to a halt to avoid the crossfire!'

'Will you quit that!' snapped the driver. 'The audience can see plain enough what's happening if this thing ever reaches air time.'

'It will.' said Liberty in grim determination. 'I'll see to it if its the last thing I do.'

Far away in his command center, Reikson was paying far more attention to his soldiers trying to break the defense that Alpha Squadron had mustered on the clifftops. He didn't even notice the countless dots disappearing beneath a wave of xenomorph life signs.

'Sir,' said an ensign. 'our advance force has been completely wiped out.'

'Great, sure, whatever, I'll arrange for their replacements later.' said Reikson.

'Sir…' said an ensign 'the Norad II is descending from space.'

'What?!' said Reikson.

* * *

All of a sudden the clouds parted and an ungodly humming noise echoed through the valleys as the Norad II descended to loom dangerously overhead. The marines far below halted their fire as spotlights fell upon them. Many turrets and other weapon systems were set targeting everyone below as General Duke's voice spoke on every com unit in the area.

'Squadron commanders, you have endangered the human lives with your reckless personal vendetta, and in doing so sabotaged the defense of this colony.' said General Duke 'As of right nowyou'rer all under arrest! I suggest you throw down your weapons and come peaceably!'

'Who the hell do you think you are Duke?!' snapped Reikson over the come. 'I'm the same rank as you!'

'General Duke is acting with the direct authority of the Old Families.' said Cerberus Commander's unamused tone. 'Failure to cooperate with this directive will result in the immediate termination of all involved. Do you understand?'

'…Yeah,' said Reikson, cowed. 'I got you.'

By this time Alpha Squadron had already thrown down their weapons, and set their hands above their heads. Omega Squadron followed suit. Soldiers descended to both the starport and multiple bases. In the course of an hour Reikson and the Lieutenant of Alpha Squadron were both taken into custody, while Swallow was recovered. In all the chaos, Liberty escaped custody with all the data he had collected.

* * *

 _'_ _Daggoth, the terrans staged an offensive against my hives. One of them was destroyed, however I managed to halt their assault in the highlands before they could pierce the main clusters. My broods are even now working to repair the damage caused, and reconstruct the hives. If you send your forces in now, we might destroy them completely.'_

 ** _'_** ** _No, the Overmind desires the humans to evacuate. He has some greater purpose for them in mind. Keep them contained and ensure they can do no further damage to the hive clusters.'_**

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

Well here we are. Sorry this chapter was so delayed, It actually went completely off the rails from my original plan, since I never intended Swallow to take action. Originally it was going to be something of a damsel in distress situation, where Lieutenant goes to Swallow's rescue. However then I realized that since Reikson has access to the Sons of Korhal base, he would probably be able to figure out that Liberty had been there, and therefore find out who 'Roran Mustang' really was.

One thing led to another and pretty soon it was completely different from how I imagined it. Hope you enjoy it, at any rate.


	10. Final Plans

**Chapter Ten: Final Plans**

The evacuation of Chau Sara was well underway, despite the loss of the two Lieutenants. Dropships continued to ferry refugees into the troops carriers of Omega Squadron. Alpha and Omega Squadron, combined with the Chau Saran Militia, had set up a heavy defensive line which they continued to strengthen against assaults by the xenomorphs. However the assaults on the xenomorph hives had ceased, and the creatures were launching wave after wave in increasing numbers and fury. Xenomorphs continued to pour onto Chau Sara's surface in great waves.

Nova Squadron was apparently scouting out the fringe reaches, or so Duke had heard. Things were very vague as to the exact nature of their mission. Duke suspected that they had been sent to try and find the xenomorph home world. If they had found any new data, however, it was not being passed through to him.

'Edmund,' said Anthony Duke 'we seem to have a bit of a problem.'

'Cerberus Squadron is already conducting an investigation of their own.' grunted Duke 'They've cut me out of the loop.'

'Yes, but it's not just military.' said Anthony 'You see ever since news of this war has been broadcast sector-wide, people have started to care about the news. Before that everyone was too apathetic to bother but now… now we have a bit of an issue.

Your success has begun to worry the Old Families. They're afraid that the Squadrons are becoming too independent. The Generals run their own private armies which are funded by mining operations which they control. You really should tread carefully, or the situation could get out of hand.'

It was a warning of sorts. Antony's way of saying 'don't cross me Edmund.' Edmund Duke had never been particularly impressed with his cousin, so he was disinclined to care what he thought. Except now he had a reputation to uphold. 'My Lieutenant acted without telling me. If I wanted Reikson dead Omega Squadron would be a smoking crater right now.' Duke had done his share of terrible things as a General of the Confederacy, however, he found the casual way Reikson gave such orders distasteful.

'True enough,' Anthony conceded. 'yet your Lieutenant and Reikson seem to have a grudge against each other. Reikson's kidnapping of Emily Swallow, if we may call it that, was preceded by rumors that there had been a physical altercation between the two. Apparently, the Lieutenant of Alpha Squadron took offense to the way Reikson used his men, and a fight broke out.'

Edmund was surprised. '…How do you know this?'

'I have my sources,' said Anthony 'when the situation in Chau Sara became important, I arranged to have the major players watched, including you. Keep that in mind.'

Edmund did not glance around him suspiciously. He wouldn't give Anthony the pleasure. 'Your point?'

'My point is,' said Anthony 'that this little vendetta that has appeared between Omega Squadron and Alpha Squadron is getting people riled up. End it, now. I don't care how. The Head of your Family, out.' Then he shut off the com.

'Pain in my ass.' muttered Duke.

'Sir,' said his secretary 'Michael Liberty here to see you.'

'Let the boy in.' said Duke, though he was in no mood for it.

The door slid open and Liberty walked into the room, glancing either way.

'Well, what is it, Mr Liberty?' growled Duke.

Liberty remained silent for a long moment. 'I need a favor.'

'What kind of favor?' asked Duke 'And why should I give you it, boy?'

'It'll benefit you as well.' said Liberty 'And besides, you are the reason I'm on Reikson's hit list okay! This is half your fault, to begin with!'

'What do you want?' asked Duke bluntly.

Liberty sighed. 'Look, Reikson tried to massacre an entire convoy of civilians okay. He shouldn't be able to just walk that off. I want to release a story, but I need your influence to get it through.' He offered Duke a flash drive, and the General took it. 'In that is all the data. I spent a few days editing it, so it should go through.'

Duke inserted it into his computer and opened up the file within. Scanning over it, his eyebrow was raised as he watched everything. Finally, he looked up. 'How the hell did you get the footage from Reikson's command room?'

'I have some sources.' said Liberty 'You'd be surprised just how many people want his dirty little secrets brought into the light. Will you run it?'

Duke considered the matter for a long, long time. It was a risk, but it would definitely put public opinion on his side if properly used. 'On one condition, I intend to make a few alterations of my own. Adding some voice clips I have on record might make him sweat just a bit more.'

'Thank you General.' said Liberty.

* * *

The interrogation room was small with only a single long florescent light gleaming down upon a steel table and two steel chairs. Reikson sat within one such chair, waiting. There was a one-way mirror on the far wall where he was being examined. Finally, the door opened and Samir Duran entered, flanked by two men in marine armor.

There was silence between them for a moment as Duran took a seat in the seat across from Reikson. There was silence between them. 'Well, things seem to have gotten a little out of hand, wouldn't you say Lieutenant?' said Duran at last, and Reikson wasn't sure whether he was mocking him or trying to lighten the mood.

He didn't really care. 'Look I've already been over this a dozen times with the Cerberus Commander. Mr Lieutenant, whatever the hell his name is, attacked my forces while we were staging an operation. I responded in kind.'

'Ah, but that is the true problem, isn't it?' asked Duran 'For you see the exact nature of your operation matters. Launching a direct assault on the fleeing refugees you were supposed to be evacuating? Not a very wise move in terms of PR.'

'Liberty was carrying data which he'd gotten from the Sons of Korhal.' said Reikson. 'The Lieutenant was probably covering for him.'

'Ah, but according to Lieutenant, that is more or less his name, by the way, he had absolutely no awareness of what Liberty was carrying.' said Duran 'All he had were reports that you were assaulting a civilian convoy. A report sent by one of his soldiers whom you illegally detained.'

'Just say that a couple of Omega Squadron Marines went psychotic.' said Reikson 'In a few weeks nobody will care what Liberty said.'

'Speaking of Liberty,' said Duran 'there is something you really should see.'

Duran provided a portable news reader which played before Reikson. It began by using real life footage of Reikson ordering men to their deaths. It showed the Sons of Korhal operating to destroy the xenomorph hives and featured Liberty remarking on the coincidence that Omega Squadron just happened to appear in time to take advantage of the Sons of Korhal's actions. It chronicled the deaths of an entire force of Omega Squadron Marines whom Reikson had all but forgotten about by now.

It demonstrated that these marines died because Reikson had engaged in a firefight with Alpha Squadron, who had intervened to protect innocent civilians. Real footage was shown of cowering men women and children, as the sound of gunfire was heard. Pointed questions were raised, and the implication was clear.

Liberty was accusing Omega Squadron of cooperating with the Sons of Korhal, and he was using real life footage of his own actions to emotionally manipulate people into believing it. It was like any other Confederate slander campaign, except it was targeting a member of the Confederate elite.

Reikson stared at the news report rolling in front of his eyes and opened his mouth to speak. Yet no words came out. He glanced to Duran. 'You aren't saying you honestly believe that bullshit! This is a power play by Duke! Liberty would need connections like his to get that story run!'

'Of course, it is,' said Duran 'however it has made a great many people throughout the sector very angry. They are calling for your resignation.' He smiled. 'Among other less pleasant things.'

'Well they're not getting it!' snapped Reikson 'Douse the rioters with flamethrowers and quit wasting everyone's time!'

'Uh… Lieutenant,' said Duran in the voice of one giving a friendly warning. 'are you giving me commands?'

Reikson suddenly became very aware that he was sitting across from a man who knew more ways to kill him with his pinkie than Reikson was even aware existed. A chill went down his spine as he looked at Duran, really looked at him for the first time. The dark skinned man was looking at him with some combination of distaste and condescension.

'What do you want from me?' asked Reikson in a small tone. 'Look if you need a favor later-'

'Oh nothing so formal,' said Duran 'for now I have interceded on your behalf. It's fortunate for you that the Old Families hold a nearly equal amount of contempt for the masses that you do. Otherwise, I expect they would be yielding to public pressure completely. I have convinced them to forgive this… unfortunate blunder.

However, in the interests of avoiding such encounters in the future you are now a subordinate officer to General Edmund Duke.'

'What?!' said Reikson 'You expect me to give up my command?'

'Far from it,' said Duran 'you will, of course, continue to command Omega Squadron. However, you will do so under the oversight and direction of Alpha Squadron. I expect you will have to clean up your act a bit, and I will do what I can to make this unfortunate situation temporary.

For now, however, I expect you to cooperate.'

Reikson knew better than to disappoint Duran's expectations. 'Yes, sir.'

'And Lieutenant,' said Duran.

'Yes?' said Reikson.

'I am relying on your humble gratitude in this endeavor.'

'Yes, sir.' He wanted a favor for this. Possibly several.

'Now that we have that unfortunate business out of the way,' said Duran as he stood up. 'you're free to go. I expect Omega Squadron will be glad to have its commanding officer returned to it. If I might give you a piece of advice, however…'

Reikson swallowed at the threat in Duran's tone.

'…your subordinates are valuable resources, Lieutenant.' said Duran 'Take steps to ensure their survival. Even the jails of New Folsom have limited manpower.'

'I understand.' said Reikson.

'Good,' said Duran 'now we will be holding a meeting of all the ranking officers to discuss the final stages of our strategic withdrawal in two hours. I expect you to be there in uniform, with no snide commentary.'

After that Gregory Reikson was a changed man. Not necessarily a better person, but changed. He no longer held the same flippant attitude towards the lives of his soldiers which had characterized him before. And Omega Squadron became far more dangerous as a result.

In the immediate future, however, he was completely Reikson swore to himself that he'd clean up his act. Anything to avoid another humiliation like this.

Mentally Reikson swore to himself that he'd clean up his act. Anything to avoid another humiliation like this.

* * *

Around a round table sat the Cerberus Commander, General Edmund Duke, Lieutenant Gregory Reikson, and Samir Duran. Duran laid out a number of forms and looked around. 'Gentlemen, Nova Squadron has given us some distressing news. They have completed their initial surveys of the unknown regions and ascertained the rough location of the xenomorphs base of operations.

Although the exact population of the planet is not fully accounted for, estimates range from six to ten billion. Upon it are many warrior strains which have not yet seen combat against our forces.'

'Six to ten billion?' asked Reikson. 'How many of these things are there?'

'In an optimistic appraisal?' said Duran with a touch of wry humor. 'Six to ten billion. However, that is assuming that the enemy holds only one world. We appear to be at the threshold of a very serious crisis. Fortunately, with the data gathered by General Edmund Duke's Alpha Squadron, a plan is already being developed to deal with these problems.

For now, our priority is to ensure the safe evacuation of Chau Sara. And there, I fear, lies the rub. We have received reports that another wave of xenomorphs, far larger than any other, is even now heading for Chau Sara. What we have faced here is only the vanguard of the swarm. I estimate they will get here is roughly three days.'

'So we're pulling out.' said Reikson 'We already knew that.'

'We'll have to start preparations immediately to escape in that kind of time table.' noted the Cerberus Commander.

'An astute observation, Commander,' said Duran 'and a rush like that the xenomorphs might overrun us and kill many of our forces during the chaos of our evacuation. Consequently, I believe a new offensive is in order.'

'Another offensive?' asked Duke 'Against the kind of forces, that'll never work! Where'd you study tactics boy?!'

Duran looked at Duke in irritation. 'My history is not your concern, General. My scientists have concluded that the xenomorphs operate by a crude hive mind. Their operations are all centered around their hive clusters, and those hive clusters, in turn, are centered around a primary set of hive clusters which acts as a nexus of sorts for their communications. I believe we have located them. If we annihilate those clusters, it should throw the swarm into disarray for a few hours.

More than sufficient time for us to withdraw our forces if we are quick about it.'

'Alright then,' said Duke 'I'll get my best man on it. Reikson, and my other Lieutenants will launch assaults on the outlying bases just in case. That ought to get those critters off our backs long enough for us to evac.'

Reikson narrowed his eyes at Duke's words but said nothing to Duran's satisfaction.

'Well then gentlemen,' said Duran 'we had best get to work. Commander, arrange a meeting with Magistrate Collins and the Lieutenant. Remember gentlemen, the details of our operation are on a need to know basis. This meeting is adjourned.' There was a pause. 'Oh, and in case you have any trouble with the good Magistrate, this has been provided.' He passed him a file.

The Cerberys Commander looked through it, gaze narrowing. 'Understood.'

* * *

Captain Orson was a mustached man with quite a bit of muscle on him. He had a thick neck and several scars that were of recent make. He was among the most experienced of the militia, a veteran of the Guild Wars. 'Magistrate sir we can't afford to launch any more assaults.'

'Why not?' asked Collins 'Omega Squadron aside they all worked out pretty well.'

'Yes, but they were all high-risk ventures.' said Orson 'Our priority right now should be evacuating to fight another day. We don't have to destroy the hives to do it, just keep them occupied long enough for everyone to withdraw.

If we do a gradual retreat and are careful we should be able to get out of here without any more defeats.'

'Right,' said Collins 'I have a meeting with the Lieutenant of Alpha Squadron in an hour. I'll speak to him about it there.'

* * *

Lieutenant made his way into the command center, somewhat dreading the reception he'd get. He did not precisely regret the decision he'd made, however, it likely didn't sit well with his commanding officers. To his surprise, he found Magistrate Collins awaiting him, along with the Cerberus Commander, who remained silent. On the table was a holographic image which showed Chau Sara. The xenomorphs were growing in number, as the terran presence steadily dwindled. The evacuation was not yet done, and the pressure on the colony was steadily increasing as more xenomorphs arrived by the day.

Collins walked up to him and clapped him on the back. 'Well done, Lieutenant. I wish there were more Confederate Officers with your tenacity and spirit. But right now we need to plan a tight defense.

I've consulted with my top advisors, and I believe that if we can establish a perimeter we can-'

'There's no time for that Magistrate,' snapped the Cerberus Commander 'our intelligence confirms that the time to strike the xenomorph's primary clusters is now.' He looked to Lieutenant. 'Lieutenant, you will command the assault.'

An assault now? They could barely hold their own, let alone push the xenomorphs back? Evidently, Collins agreed.

'By whose authority?!' asked Collins 'I am still Magistrate of this Colony, and I will-'

'By order of the Colonial Crisis Act under sub-section 1602, I hereby super-cede your authority in this matter. Lieutenant, you may commence with the operation!'

There was very little left to say after that. The meeting adjourned, and Magistrate Collins watched helplessly as a large core of the defenders his militia were relying on to bolster them marched off to war in one final offensive. Now all that remained to be seen was how things would play out.

* * *

Magistrate Collins leaned back in his chair within a dimly lit command room, mulling things over as events passed him by. Someone entered his room, and he looked back in a hurry, only to see Susan. 'Susan, what are you doing here? I told you to take the dropships out of here with the children.'

'They're with their nanny, I'm your wife, Edward.' said Susan 'Not your servant. I can't just leave you down here.'

'Don't you understand?' asked Collins 'I'm a third wheel now. If they find out you met with me here, then they would end up thinking you were a loose end.'

'Well let them.' she snapped 'Your research is too important to just drop.'

'Don't you understand?!' asked Collins as he stood. 'My research was never supposed to happen. They just choose to integrate it into their plans when they found out about it. Next thing I know I'm working with shady black ops groups, and fearing for my life.

You have to understand, Susan, these… people only kept me around as a convenient source of off the books funding. Once Chau Sara is evacuated there is no need for me to be here.

I know too much about what they want kept secret, and now they don't need me anymore.' He wiped some sweat from his brow. 'What am I going to do? I'll disappear under mysterious circumstances, or end up lying dead in a ditch somewhere.'

'I think that right now you should focus on the defense of the colony.' said Susan 'I'll go get us some tea to soothe your nerves.'

'Right, right,' said Collins, sitting back down.

Tea was a specialty of Susans, and she had a real talent for making it. It was one of the reasons he'd married her, among other things. The two of them had three children, all of whom were currently in the Omega Squadron battlecruiser, or one of its escorting troop carriers. What had Susan been thinking to leave the children up there alone without her?

Yet right now he had to deal with the defense of the colony.

He opened a transmission. 'This is Magistrate Collins to all militia reserves. You are to take your forces and reinforce the defenses evenly. With the recent mobilization of the Squadrons, we'll have to pick up the slack.'

'Sir,' said Captain Orson. 'that would leave us without a rapid response force. We'd have nothing to plug a gap in the defenses.'

'We're short-staffed as it is.' said Collins 'So we'll have to make due without one. With any lu, k the boys of Alpha and Omega Squadron should keep the xenomorphs distracted with their assault.'

'Yes sir,' said Sullivan doubtfully. 'following orders.'

Susan returned with a tray of tea and Collins cleared a space on the desk for her to set it down on. As she did so she sat down across from him and passed him a metal cup containing the tea. Collins blew on it, before taking a sip. Then he set it down and collapsed against the seat.

'Feeling your age?' asked Susan mischievously.

'I'm barely past my forties.' said Collins.

At that moment the Adjutant's voice came through the com. 'Magistrate, we are receiving an incoming transmission from the Delta Squadron Flagship Soldier 3.'

Collins looked up, new hope coming in. 'Patch it through.'

'This is General Alan Schezar of Delta Squadron.' said a voice over the com. 'I notice that your defense lines are getting a bit stretched thin. I'd like to help you out and send down my forces to help shore up your defenses. On one condition.'

Collins had very little choice. 'Name it.'

'You will transfer to me all data and records pertaining to the xenomorphs that you have collected.' said Schezar 'All off the record, of course.'

Collins had any number of reservations regarding handing such data over to Schezar. However he'd had the same reservations regarding the confederacy. He looked to Susan who nodded mutely. She was right, he had to focus on survival. 'Alright, I'll have them sent up. Send down your forces, and I'll send up everything I have.' He paused. 'One thing, a request I'd like to make of you.'

'Yes?' asked Schezar in a friendly tone.

'When the evacuation is complete, I would very much appreciate your protection for my family and I.'

'Of course, Magistrate.' said Schezar 'I'm certain I can find a post for a man of your talents. We'll be down shortly.'

Within the hour, dropships carrying hundreds of orange suited marines landed. The soldiers moved forward and took up defensive positions, reinforcing the various bunker positions. Siege Tanks were also unloaded, and sent to assist in the defense.

It was not a moment too soon. Over the course of the next few hours the xenomorphs launched assault after assault against their positions. The sound of siege tanks echoed constantly, coupled with the rhythm of guassfire mowing down the xenomorphs. As he listened to the endless sounds of carnage within his Command Center, Collins breathed a sigh of relief.

When Susan had gone elsewhere, he dialed a number. Someone picked up.

'Michael Liberty here.'

'Liberty,' said Collins 'I'd like to thank you for your help son. If you hadn't drawn attention to this conflict here, we'd have been overrun right about now.'

'I'm sure you would have figured something out.' said Liberty.

'No I couldn't have,' said Collins 'we've been stretched thin this whole time, even with both Alpha and Omega Squadron. The stories you sent back to Tarsonis could have meant your neck, they might still mean your neck. God knows I'm not exactly feeling secure right now myself.

Just… just remember that there are ten thousand innocent people alive in orbit around this planet today because you had the guts to tell people about it. Whatever happens… I will always admire you.'

'Thank you sir, it means a lot.' said Liberty 'If I could make a request…'

'Name it, and I'll see what I can do.' said Collins.

'Next time you need someone to cover Omega Squadron, ask someone else. Please.'

There was silence. Suddenly Collins broke into hysterical laughter, as Liberty joined in on it. Both men laughed, laughed and laughed as weeks of stress fell from their shoulders. When they finally stopped laughing, they couldn't remember.

It was a brief bright spot in an all too dark universe.

* * *

General Edmund Duke was sitting in his command chair, watching the battles play out far below. The main Alpha Squadron strike force was still heading towards the primary hive clusters to reinforce the garrison sealing them off. It would be a few hours before they arrived. In the meantime, Reikson had been working overtime to redeem himself, or so Duke assumed.

The Lieutenant of Omega Squadron had completely changed his tactics. He used siege tanks to shell the enemy fortifications from afar, while his marines screened out the xenomorph attack forces. And he was doing it well. Three minor hives had fallen to his assaults already, and he was now working on a major one. He was being very careful with his remaining forces. Duke supposed that was something.

Meanwhile the other Lieutenants of Alpha Squadron each had their own battles to wage. Their numbers had been reinforced by fresh recruits during their period of relative inactivity, and now they were working to destroy as many hives as possible. None of them had yet matched Reikson's kill count, but they were getting there.

As he watched Reikson finish off the xenomorph hive he was attacking and move still further into enemy territory, he heard footsteps behind him. Glancing back he saw Emily Swallow walking into the room. 'What?'

'Sir,' said Swallow 'what Liberty said about Reikson in that broadcast…'

'Yeah, what about it?' asked Duke.

'It wasn't true, was it?' asked Emily. 'Liberty said he was devoted to the truth. But Reikson isn't working with the Sons of Korhal.'

'Your point?'

'Why did you help Liberty broadcast slander?' Her question was phrased in an almost childlike innocence, and Duke sighed.

'Little girl, what do you think the prime purpose of the Confederacy of Man is?' asked Duke, looking at her hard.

'To bring order to the sector, and to make the world a better place.' said Emily automatically. 'Sir.'

'Please,' scoffed Duke 'when it comes to a better world I'm not innocent, and mostly apathetic. Its all just a game, numbers and statistics fed through a machine where the stakes are the only thing thats real.' He suddenly remembered a time when he was young and idealistic. Before he'd had all that idealism hammered out of him by the assembly line that was the military. 'And I'm playing it.'

'So… you only did it to bring Reikson under your control?' asked Emily.

'I didn't exactly know how the Confederacy would react.' admitted Duke 'But I figured it would have to do something to him. I really hate that bastard. I've seen all kinds of cold decisions in my time, made quite a few myself.

But he doesn't sacrifice his soldiers because he needs to. He doesn't do it because he benefits. Its just… spite. Spite and a spoiled disposition. He needs some goddamned discipline! Thats what he needs!'

'So… it was about revenge.' surmised Emily.

'Thats right, yeah.' said Duke. 'Liberty wanted revenge for what Reikson tried to do to him, and I played along.'

'But Reikson only did that because of what Liberty did to him before.' said Emily 'When does it end?'

'…It doesn't.' grunted Duke after a moment. The answer was somehow insufficient. 'Prep my tank, I'm going to meet our main strike force en route and conduct the assault on the primary hive clusters personally.'

'Yes sir.' said Emily.

Chau Sara might have been doomed, but Alpha Squadron sure as well wasn't going to let it go gently.

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

For a bit I honestly thought I'd get into the Extermination mission. However the sub plots conspired to make this chapter turn out as yet another build up to it. Next mission I promise you we'll get to the final battle.

The whole scene with Magistrate Collins just kind of played out from scratch. And yes, I'm making Alan Schezar the head of Delta Squadron. Why? Because Alan Schezar comes right the fuck out of nowhere with heavy duty weaponry, a powerful paramilitary group, and enough information on the zerg to enslave a Cerebrate.

That takes some serious information, which was probably all classified. I thus find it much more likely that Schezar refused to join the Dominion and became a pirate instead. It explains where Delta Squadron went, and why Mengsk thinks Schezar is such a threat.


	11. Extermination

**Chapter Eleven: Extermination**

Arcturus Mengsk was quite pleased with how things turned out as he gazed over the confederate news reports, condemning the actions of Reikson, and focusing on his humiliation to appease the frothing masses. And in all these great events, it was scarcely noticed that the Sons of Korhal's own contributions to the defense of Chau Sara slipped through. As the news report finished he switched off his report and turned round in his seat to where Kerrigan was standing.

'It looks like Mr Liberty made good use of the footage we gave him.' He smiled slightly. 'And you said that having Warfield bug his own command center was paranoid.'

'I'll admit it gave us more data then I thought it would.' said Kerrigan 'But is this really a good thing? I mean the Squadrons are now more organized, and the confederacy has been seen to care about its citizens. Won't this hurt us?'

'It might,' admitted Mengsk with a certain degree of humor. 'if the confederates actually cared about their citizens, or took the opportunity to change their ways. However, the Old Families are too far gone for that to be a likely scenario. There are some actions you don't walk away from.'

'Even so,' said Kerrigan 'they are more popular than ever.'

'Precisely,' said Mengsk 'people's standards have been raised. They're hoping things might improve, they have been shaken from their despair. Hope is a very powerful motivator. In sharp contrast, the confederacy has no intention of making this shift towards humanitarianism permanent. This whole thing has been an unwanted excursion in the eyes of the Old Families. They will not make a habit of it.

Once the confederacy begins disappointing people's expectations they will become angry, and an uprising will be a simple matter to organize. Then we need only reveal the depth of their involvement in the xenomorphs and the fire will spread.'

'But we don't know actually what they are doing.' said Kerrigan 'I mean we have suspicions, but no hard evidence.'

'We'll deal that in due time.' said Mengsk 'For now I have a call to make.'

'Yes sir,' said Kerrigan, turning and walking away.

As the door shut behind him, Mengsk turned round in his seat and initiated a transmission. After a moment a middle-aged blonde haired woman appeared on the screen. Carolina Davis was a known associate of the Terra family. What was not known by any save a few was that Carolina was also a double agent who worked closely provided material and weapons for the Sons of Korhal.

'Mengsk, to what do I owe the pleasure?' she asked, seeming to mean it.

'Some business Carolina,' said Mengsk 'no doubt you've heard about the recent evacuation of Chau Sara.'

'Yes,' said Carolina, mouth thinning. 'the Old Families are very annoyed at the prospect of saving innocent civilians instead of wiping them out. I also note that you managed to slip your own involvement into their news reports. Very shrewd.'

'Well, one does one's best.' reflected Mengsk 'I need dropships, Carolina. Lots of dropships.'

'What for?' she asked 'When last I looked Chau Sara was already largely evacuated.' she paused, calculating. 'Has there been a surge of new recruits?'

'Nothing so fortunate,' said Mengsk 'the evacuation of Chau Sara is only occurring because the confederacy was shamed and humiliated into helping its own people for once. They are evacuating them to Mar Sara, which has already reported sightings of the xenomorphs.

Where do you think these creatures will hit next?'

'I see your point.' said Davis ruefully. 'To evacuate Mar Sara would require twice as many resources and manpower, and this war is already expensive for them. A miracle only happens once.'

'My thoughts exactly,' said Mengsk 'so I require whatever transportation or troops carriers or anything else you can get me. I intend to see to it that as many civilian lives as possible are saved, to show my good intent to the sector.'

Davis considered that. 'No doubt the civilians would spread by word of mouth word of the Sons of Korhal's heroics. With the recent news of the Sons of Korhal victory over the xenomorphs, combined with the Confederacy's indifference, it would be a very strong source of hearts and minds.

You truly do know how to play this game, Arcturus. I'll do what I can. But evacuating twenty thousand people isn't going to be easy.'

'It never is.' reflected Mengsk 'General Mengsk out.'

The screen switched off, and Mengsk leaned back in his seat, contemplating recent events. The xenomorphs were clearly a threat to humanity, but if he played his cards right their invasion could prove quite useful.

* * *

The area directly north of the primary xenomorphs clusters had been sealed off for weeks. General Edmund Duke had set up a heavy defense along the only bridge crossing the river and had lined Alpha Squadron's side of the shore with rows of missile turrets. The Lieutenant had known all of this before. The defenses here had repulsed multiple assaults by the swarm, attempting to break through to attack the colony beyond. Lieutenant had come here prepared for a difficult battle. Yet what he had not been prepared for was the nature of the place the xenomorphs had made their clusters.

It was a city. A sprawling place of sturdy buildings, all of which had been designed in the infancy of the Chau Sara Colony to stand up to high winds. One almost never had to go outside in one of those places. Homes, stores, factory's and public services were all contained within these massive constructs of metal which lined the horizon.

Now everyone who had once lived her had either fled or died. It was a grim scene, and it had the Lieutenant feeling very angry. He suddenly remembered that though ten thousand people had been evacuated from Chau Sara thus far, taken away from their homes and everything they knew, there were an additional ten thousand who were not so lucky.

'How is it possible we didn't hear about this, General?' he asked over a com. 'We should have received some kind of report.'

'The xenomorphs wiped this place out right about the time you were assaulting the Sons of Korhal base camp.' said Duke 'Most everyone died, and Cerberus Squadron hushed everything up. I was given specific orders not to discuss this, but their not any good now.'

There was a mournful silence. The men of Alpha Squadron were afraid. Something in the air was affecting them, causing them to shift nervously as they gazed about at their surroundings. No one wanted to be here, the colony was being attacked while they delayed here. And what chance did they have against the swarm in the heart of their power?

'This ain't good,' said Duke, mirroring their thoughts. 'Scanners are detecting three major hive clusters in this region,they'retheir all heavily fortified. Still there is something…

Yeah, that'll do.'

'What?' asked the Lieutenant.

'The smallest of the hive clusters is situated directly in range of a former population base. If we could air drop an attack group with siege tanks onto the base, we should be able to shell the hive to pieces from a relatively safe location.'

'It sounds good,' said Lieutenant 'I will lead the attack myself.'

'Negative on that Lieutenant. Private Swallow, I'm promoting you to Captain. I want you to take charge of this assault personally. Once you've annihilated the hive, Lieutenant will send his forces in to secure the location as a main forward base.'

'Yes sir,' said Emily 'I'll bring honor to Alpha Squadron sir.'

'You do that.' muttered Duke.

Mentally Lieutenant reflected that Duke's promotion of Swallow was almost entirely nepotism, but he refrained from comment.

* * *

Emily Swallow felt good to be back in her marine armor, and good to be back in white. She'd polished it constantly to ensure it was in tip top shape, and after weeks of being a bodyguard to Liberty, she was finally back in her element. As she readied her gun, she looked out the open dropship door to see the river flowing beneath them and beyond the far shore.

'Alright men,' she said 'listen up. Our orders are to land upon the roof of the former colonial population base and use it as a firing post to destroy the xenomorph hives. Marines and goliaths are only here to screen the tanks.

Do your work, and remember that the honor of the Confederacy goes with you.'

'Yes ma'am!' came the cry.

Of the enemy no sign could be seen. They flew past the river and over the barren grounds and still there was nothing. Finally they came within sight of the hive itself. It was smaller than Swallow had expected, looking more like a secondary colony than a true hive. However it had a formidable number of defenders, and several sunken colonies. Some miles away from it was the population base, sprawling over a landscape of decaying concrete. The dropships flew over them, yet as they did many hydralisks unburrowed from within the ground and began to launch spines at the dropships.

'Take evasive action!' snapped Emily 'Get over the population base!'

One of the dropships took a number of spines to the engines and shuddered for a moment. Then they were over the population base. 'Descend and engage, Alpha Squadron!' cried Emily, before grabbing a rope and sliding down its lengths to land atop the roof. Rushing forward she opened fire on the hydralisks as the men descended with her. Firing her rounds with careful aim, she downed one of them, feeling a spine slice past her shoulder guard in the process. Then her men were alongside her and opened fire en masse.

Many hydralisks fell, yet several of Alpha Squadrons marines had their lives claimed despite their superior position. As their bodies hit the ground, Swallow could see many more hydralisks surging towards them. 'Siege tanks enter siege mode and begin shelling the hive clusters. Marines and goliaths, protect the tanks! Nothing gets through!'

The siege tanks fired their guns and the echo of the assault could be heard for miles. A group of hydralisks were consumed as they approached, yet more still were coming. Swallow and her men opened fire on the approaching enemies, even as overlords soon came onto the horizon heading straight for them. Even as the hydralisks fell, the siege tanks fired again, and missed their targets completely. Nearly a hundred zerglings were consumed by the onslaught of firepower, but not a building was scratched.

'Shoot down those overlords!' cried Emily 'Fire at will!'

Goliath missiles filled the sky, surging towards the organic troop transports and consumed them in vast explosions. Several exploded into blood, while others pressed on, only to fall to gauss rounds. The tanks fired again, and hit nothing but ground, kicking up a lot of dirt.

'What is the problem?!' snapped Emily 'Why can't you hit them?'

'We're near our range limit, ma'am.' said the soldier inside. 'We can't get a fix on the targets.'

'Fine,' said Emily 'dropship pilots, I need one of you to begin acting as a spotter for our siege tanks. Don't get too close to them, but keep observing.'

'Yes ma'am,' said the dropship pilot.

More overlords arriving, dropping off hydralisks who exchanged fire with the marines. Suddenly behind them the goliaths opened fire full blast, and Emily turned around. Their enemies had scaled up to the roof of the population base and were attacking them from behind. Emily grasped the shoulder of the leader of a squad of marines. 'Head to the rear and support the goliaths. And you men get back in formation! Do not pursue the retreating swarm, their trying to draw us out!'

The roar of the siege tanks echoed again.

'Booya! Direct hit ma'am! These damn critters never knew what hit em!'

'Good work,' said Emily 'continue firing. We'll take care of anymore guests.'

So it continued, as the tanks fired round after round to systematically annihilate the xenomorph colony ahead of them. Even after the colony had been reduced, however, the xenomorphs tried to reclaim their lost ground. They sent large swarms of zerglings and hydralisks to assault their position, while drones came to try and recreate the hive clusters. These assaults, however, were easily defeated by their defensive position.

At the end of the day thousands of xenomorphs lay dead, and their position was a strong as ever.

'This is Swallow,' said Emily 'the hive cluster has been reduced and the area secured. You can set up your forward base at any time.'

'Well done Captain.' said Lieutenant.

As the sun set behind the horizon, a Command Center arrived and landed itself alongside a barracks. Additional transports arrived to drop off forces, and Lieutenant approached her. 'You've done well Swallow. I'll be taking command of this location.' He set one hand on her shoulder. 'For now I'll have some SCV's repair your goliaths, and take your wounded back to base for treatment.'

'Much appreciated sir.' said Swallow, feeling very tired and worn out.

'Lieutenant,' said the Cerberus Commander over the com. 'we're on something of a time table here. You are to launch your next assault at first light.'

'Understood sir,' said Lieutenat 'I'll do as you command.' He looked to Swallow. 'Get some rest. You've earned it.'

The day had passed so quickly that Swallow had scarcely noticed its passing. Retiring to the base, she quickly fell asleep and did not awaken again till morning.

* * *

The next day the sun rose bright and early over the sound of gaussfire, as the soldiers of Alpha Squadron defended their newly acquired base of operations against a xenomorph onslaught. Emily Swallow's eyes fluttered open as she arose from her bed to a sitting position. The screams of the creatures as they died in droves against their defenses were an interesting wake up call. Soon the sound of siege tanks guns reached through the walls to her room. Emily Swallow, got out of bed feeling very tired. Making her way out of her unfamiliar bunk, she made her way over to the coffee machine.

The sound of gauss fire fell silent for a moment, as she picked out a paper cup and filled it.

 _'_ _Flanking! Their flanking us by airdrop! All Goliaths to the south!'_ said a voice over the communicator.

Extra cream with her coffee was how she liked it. With extra sugar too. She could never stand to have less than half her coffee be cream, or at least milk. Gauss fired echoed again.

 _'_ _Someone get some missile turrets up on the shoreline!'_ snapped the voice ' _I don't want this happening again!'_

Just another day at the office.

She got dressed and made her way over to the center of the command center, looking for Lieutenant for orders. As she did so, she came to a doorway and saw Lieutenant looking at the communications relay and speaking with two others. The first was General Edmund Duke, the old general unmistakable as always in the left most window. There was another man however, one dressed in the outfit of an Alpha Squadron Lieutenant. He was a gaunt man with reddish brown hair and a confident smirk which made Swallow guess that he was part of the wraith squadron. The hat he was wearing said it all. That meant name was Richard Kennedy, he was unmarried, and he loved his work.

'Well you ground pounders have been doing better than usual.' said Lieutenant Kennedy. 'You've burned quite a few of these critters hives.'

'Yes,' said Lieutenant in a tone of distaste Swallow shared. 'we have been quite efficient of late. Is there a particular reason that you fly boys have decided to grace the war with your vaunted presence?'

'Well I'd love to do all the work for you boys,' said Richard 'but Confederate Command doesn't like us wasting our most valuable resources on grunt work. Thats what you ground pounders are for after all.'

'Yes, you are rather unnecessary now that you mention it.' said Lieutenant, before glancing to Duke. 'Sir, we don't need them. There is another abandoned population base just north of here, directly in range of the xenomorph hives. If we send another contingent of siege tanks with an escort, we should be able to wipe them out.'

'Not an option,' said Duke 'the xenomorph have gotten smart. Their sunken colonies are very near that population base, so they might be able to assault us. Also our scanner sweeps indicate that there is a substantial force of hydralisk burrowed in the metal.

You might pull it off, but there would be a lot of casualties.'

'Then lets do a ground assault!' said Lieutenant 'A gradual advance behind siege tanks can sweep anything away!'

'And might end up getting attacked from behind by the other colony.' said Kennedy 'No, this is where I come in the steal the show. See, the xenomorphs have set up serious defenses against ground. But they have nothing to defend against air, or even detect us. If my wraith squadrons go in quick enough with our cloaking fields on, we should be able to wipe out their little base of operations right quick.'

'It'll never work.' said Lieutenant 'The only thing wraiths are good for is anti air defense. Still if you want to get yourself killed, by all means, do us all a favor. More air for the rest of us.'

'I'm sorry you feel that way, Lieutenant.' said Richard.

'Both of you quit arguing and get to work!' snapped Duke.

Richard Kennedy had not been brain panned. That was why he had been chosen to lead Alpha Squadron's fighter wing, why he was even able to be a part of it. No one in the fighter wings was brain panned. They had separate quarters, and almost never saw anyone else. Until today Swallow had never questioned why.

She saw now that it was because Confederate Command held a view of common marines value which did not transfer over to highly expensive space craft. In retrospect it made perfect sense. Humanity was a resource the Confederacy had in abundance. The same could not be said of state of the art fighters.

* * *

The work crews of Alpha Squadron had been working overtime of late. Boxes were unloaded in great numbers, all of which were very heavy. They were then fitted with some difficulty into tracks filled with supplies that drove off down the road, across the wastes towards Alpha Squadron's forward base. Finally they got out of their SCV's.

'Hey Mara,' said a man 'whats all this stuff anyway?'

'Thats boss to you, Malcolm.' said Mara, a red haired women clad in overalls and a white shirt. 'And its food, obviously, and some ammunition. They have been going through base real quick these past few weeks.'

'Geez,' said Malcolm 'with all the fighting they have been doing you'd think they would have won the war by now.'

'Yeah,' reflected Mara 'this ain't like the Guild Wars where people were trying to drag it out to make a quick buck. Alpha Squadron and the others have been wrecking these critters, but they just keep on coming. Now we're actually evacuating.'

'If we're evacuating then why are we calling out the big guns?' asked Bidder, another worker who had dark skin and bad teeth. 'Don't this seem a little excessive?'

'I talked with someone who knows Duke's valet.' said Mara 'She says that their trying to cause a lot of damage so the xenomorphs can't attack us while we're evacuating.'

At that moment there came an unholy roaring sound and out of the skies descended a great flight of wraiths, which soared across the skies while leaving behind them a trail of exhaust. The SCV crew watched them rush onwards, shading their eyes with their hands as the fighters headed towards the hive, and were suddenly gone.

'Now thats what I call a squadron.' said Mara.

'Tell me about it.' said Malcolm.

* * *

The swarm had launched several assaults in an attempt to dislodge the hated Alpha Squadron intruders and recreate the colony they had lost. However the Cerebrates had focused their attention elsewhere and so had their attention divided. Thus it was left to the swarm to command itself for a time. All of a sudden the attack came without warning.

Beams of light were suddenly unleashed from the sky with no apparent source. The hydralisks could not perceive the threat above, and so could not assault them. A sunken colony was consumed beneath an onslaught of focused fire before the overlords could arrive to reveal their enemies location. At once the hydralisks opened fire, however the enemies in the skies above retreated as swiftly as they had come.

Now the ground defense had been weakened.

To prevent another assault, the vast majority of the hydralisks were focused on the front lines, burrowed to catch anymore invaders by surprise. However then the assault came again, not from the front, but over the population base. Another sunken colony was destroyed, as the hydralisks arose and rushed to attack the invaders, led by an overlord. The overlord was destroyed by a host of missiles, but another one came quickly and the hydralisks opened fire upon the wraiths, sending several of them spiraling down to explode in flames before they managed to escape.

For a few hours all was silent as the swarm worked to repair itself. Then the attack fell again, this time from the north east. Another chunk was taken out of their defenses before the hydralisks could reach them, though during the exchange of fire several wraiths were destroyed.

So it went on, hour after hour, the wraiths coming in constant hit and run assaults which never lasted very long and always did damage. They assaulted the worker drones, tearing them to shreds with laser fire. Finally the hive had been reduced to a fifth its previous size, though the hydralisks remained largely intact.

Then the final attack came. Countless wraiths, not even bothering with cloaking descended upon the hive structures and fired their lasers in vast volleys upon the hydralisks who returned fire with their spines. Many hydralisks were cut to pieces by the lasers, bursting into flames beneath their barrage. However they took with them half a dozen wraiths.

Finally the hydralisks were swept away and the wraiths proceeded to burn what remained of the hive cluster to ashes.

The swarm made its way across the plains, being careful to circumvent Alpha Squadron's advance base. Their target was instead the source of Alpha Squadrons power. If that was cut off, then the advance force could be surrounded and destroyed. Even so, the swarm was feeling something it had not in a long time, perhaps never.

Hesitation. As it reached the bridge, the swarm did not want to cross it. It knew what was waiting for it on the other side. Heavy defenses which had chewed through thousands of their kind. A few attempts had been made with overlords to cross the river by air, but these had all been slaughtered.

The swarm mastered itself and charged. It rushed by the thousands across the narrow bridge, guarded by siege tanks and bunkers, and was slaughtered by the thousands. And as the assault proceeded, the swarm realized that it had been holding back some of its hydralisks.

It was only then that it realized that it was afraid of Alpha Squadron.

Fear. Fear coursed through its countless hives. Alpha Squadron had been slaughtering its way through the swarms for a little more than a month now. They had yet to suffer even a single defeat, and the swarm, for all its endless numbers, had begun to feel it. The swarm had lost track of how many countless zerglings and hydralisks and mutalisks had been carved to pieces in endless droves by the white clad marines who had become unto death itself. The swarm had outnumbered them, had a capacity for war which should have made it a simple matter to walk over them.

Omega Squadron had been thwarted. Delta Squadron had mostly kept to itself, only holding ground. The Chau Saran Militia had been helpless before them. Yet Alpha Squadron?

Alpha Squadron had gone out of its way to systematically annihilate their hives with a efficiency and precision which was unto a reflection of the swarms own agenda. The swarm saw in Alpha Squadron an entity like itself. And that terrified the swarm.

The bulk of the assault force had been slaughtered and all that remained now were the hydralisks who had lagged behind. The hives to the north had been wiped out, and soon Alpha Squadron would descend on the swarm and wipe them out from this region. That was how it always happened. The swarm could withdraw the hydralisks, hope that these few remaining forces would somehow turn the tide.

Yet that would be admitting that Alpha Squadron had power over them.

The hydralisks charged.

* * *

One final assault was launched upon Alpha Squadron's main base over the river. It was a desperate venture, as the swarm were mowed down in a vast tide, and blasted by Duke's siege tank. Not a single Alpha Squadron marine died in the combat, while the xenomorphs were all slaughtered. A group of hydralisks seemed to pause, as though afraid to continue, they in time these too assaulted and were destroyed.

Duke was satisfied with how things had turned out.

The transmission came over Duke's communicator. 'This is Kennedy, we had a few problems, but the xenomorph hive is dust. We'll take care of the other one whenever you're ready.'

'Belay that order,' said Duke 'Captain Swallow, take the siege tanks and land on the cliffs overlooking the main xenomorph hive. Bring an escort with you. Kennedy will accompany you as air support.'

* * *

The swarm had lost all hope. It no longer planned to drive out the hated forces of Alpha Squadron from this region. It no longer intended to capture Chau Sara. They had served their purpose already, Chau Sara all but belonged to the swarm. Their enemies were withdrawing. The most the swarm could bring itself to muster was a resolve to kill as many of their enemies as possible.

Yet even that was in vain. The terrans did not assault from the front as they had before, but landed on the nearby cliffs and opened fire with their siege tanks. The workers were slain first, as wraiths rushed over the hills to kill everything they could. The wraiths avoided facing the spore colonies, while destroying the sunken colonies. The land forces then descended from the cliffs to finish off the spore colonies. A few of them drew too close to the sunken colonies before they were destroyed and were killed, but it was small repayment for the massive casualties which had been inflicted.

Hydralisks and zerglings were torn to shreds by siege tank fire and those that weren't were blasted down by marines and goliaths. Then it was over, the swarms standing forces were defeated and the terrans began to annihilate everything that remained.

* * *

There was a long silence as the sound of Alpha Squadron's guns stopped. Lieutenant looked up, waiting to hear the news with some suspense. Yes, things had been progressing smoothly so far, but they might well fall apart at the last minute. He tried to reach out to find the attack force, but they were too distant for him to get a proper read on them.

'This is Corporal Swallow sir.' said Emily's voice over the communicator. 'The final xenomorph hive has been destroyed.'

Lieutenant breathed a sigh of relief and fell against the wall of the command center. It was over. Chau Sara had fallen, but the fighting was over and their enemies had paid a dear price for it. Now, at long last, they could have a break from all this nonsense.

'Receiving incoming transmission…' said the Adjutant.

'Lieutenant,' said the Cerberus Commander. 'by edict of Confederate High Command all matters regarding these xenomorphs was under a Class 7 seal. You were not supposed to speak of the xenomorphs, or in any way relay the events surrounding their appearance on Chau Sara. Failure to comply with these orders was to result in immediate termination.'

Lieutenant remained silent for a moment. He'd known he was stepping on a few toes when he had involved himself with Liberty in the first place. Even so, things had spiraled far beyond what he expected would take place. 'So… best laid plans of Old Families and xenomorphs then?' He found some humor in the situation.

'More or less,' admitted the Cerberus Commander without sharing the humor. 'this conversation was never supposed to take place. We were never supposed to be here. Keep that in mind, Lieutenant.'

The channel cut out.

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

Well here we finally have the final mission. I figure we'll have one chapter after this, an epilogue of sorts to pad things out.

Anyway, in regards to the swarm feeling fear. Frankly I think its justified. Alpha Squadron has turned what should have been a walkover into a complete meat grinder with very little apparent effort. Also Heart of the Swarm more or less makes it canon that individual members of the swarm have some crude sense of individuality, they just kind of are programmed to automatically give it up for the swarm. In this case their survival instincts have begun to rebel against them, since they have come to regard fighting Alpha Squadron as a death sentence.

I also wanted to make General Duke into a legitimately dreaded figure, rather than the joke most fanfiction portrays him as. After all, if Duke were totally incompetent he'd never have been able to seize control of the sector for Mengsk.

Its funny, I was originally going to make Duke just sort of a hands off leader who delegated authority. Except since Duke is present on the battlefield, it makes more sense for him to be in command really. So this was more Duke's victory than the Lieutenants, because Duke decided to take a direct hand in things.

Lastly we have the cameo by Carolina Davis. The decision to include her was because Davis was something of a remember the new guy character. She mentions that she knew Nova when she was a child, which means she would have had to be associated with the Old Families. Yet for her to be so high up in the Dominion, and so dedicated to Arcturus Mengsk's memory she would have almost certainly had to be a staunch follower of his from day one. So yeah, tell me what you think.

I'll level with you, I've been putting off posting this chapter for awhile now to make edits. Even so, here it is.

 **EDIT:**

You know, looking back, Emily Swallow should have been the primary protagonist for this fanfic. She's the person who had the character arc, and she had a far more interesting perspective than the Lieutenant, who in retrospect is something of a Mary Sue. Not sure I have the mental energy to rewrite this thing while retgonning the Lieutenant though.


	12. The Destruction of Chau Sara

**Epilogue: The Destruction of Chau Sara**

The Colonial Militia of Chau Sara had one hell of a sleepless week or two. They had slept in turns, with someone on watch inside the bunkers at all times. Inevitably they would be woken up, usually once a night or day and have to rush to the windows to open fire on incoming xenomorphs that tore at the armor of their bunkers, heedless of casualties. The sound of siege tanks firing had become a routine one, and they barely even flinched at it anymore. Xenomorph numbers had grown and grown, while the evacuation had continued day by day. Eventually, Omega and Alpha Squadron were pulled out, only to be replaced by Delta Squadron in the nick of time.

So it had continued. They fired every shot they had, replaced their clips and fired some more until their arms were sore and their ears ringing from the sound. They barely spoke, barely slept. They were tired, sick of rations, and all around in a bad temper. Then the communication came in:

'This is Magistrate Collins. The civilians are all away. You are to fall back from their current positions and make for the evacuation sight.'

Captain Orson would have loved nothing more than to order a mass retreat, but he was neither foolish enough or desperate enough to do it. He was a veteran of the guild wars, so he knew what happened when an entire force abandoned their defenses all at once. He knew what had to be done, and he was going to do it. He raised the communicator.

'Sir,' said Captain Orson 'if we leave all at once the xenomorphs might catch wind of what we're doing and press the assault. It could get messy.'

'Very well Captain,' said Collins 'give orders that you are to pull back little by little. Tanks will fall back with the last wave. Let's make this nice and orderly. Magistrate out.'

Captain Orson sighed, as the militia looked around at each other. 'Okay, okay, so we're pulling out.' he said, changing the channel on the communicator to his men. 'This is Captain Orson, each bunker will draw lots to determine which of you will leave first. We'll send one man from each bunker ever ten minutes. Let's get to work people, we need to get out of here quick.'

'Sir,' said Private Sullivan, a shallow faced youth. 'why don't we just make a break for it?' Sullivan had been afraid this whole time, terrified, you could tell by his eyes. He didn't want to die here. But he'd kept his orders and held his ground. He was a good soldier, even if he was terrible at hiding his fear.

'We're not leaving until we have orders to leave.' said Orson firmly. 'Now draw them damn lots.'

Lots were drawn and a man was selected. Orson got the first one, but he passed it to Sullivan. 'I'm staying here till last. I don't want people thinking I expect anyone to do what I won't do myself.'

'Thank you, sir.'

As Sullivan departed, Orson looked out the window. No sign of the xenomorphs had yet been detected, and he could see nothing ahead. Kneeling down on a bench, he watched the barren landscape ahead of him for any sign of enemies as they waited.

* * *

Omega Squadron's evacuation was a simple matter. Reikson had gotten a great many of his forces killed during the engagements on the planet, and so had few indeed to evacuate. Those that remained filed into the dropships, looking very somber. Reikson got a dropship all to himself and Lieutenant watched him get into it. As it lifted off and turned it flew away into the skies above. He then turned his attention to where his own men were loading into their designated ships. Excess supplies and equipment had been sent up first, as was standard procedure.

For a moment he stared out across the barren surface of Chau Sara, now almost lifeless, save for the creatures taking it for their own. They had fought hard and slain many who knew how many enemies. Yet there were still more of them coming. Always more of them, and Lieutenant suddenly felt himself seized by a macabre horror as he made his way onto the dropship and took a seat next to Colonel Swallow.

The doors closed and they lifted off.

'…Was it all for nothing sir?' asked Emily Swallow suddenly.

The hum of the ship was all around them, and outside their windows they could see wraiths escorting them. Lieutenant suddenly realized she had asked him a question. 'What?'

'Chau Sara,' said Emily 'we came here to save it from the Sons of Korhal, we stayed to protect it from the xenomorphs, and now… now we're just leaving. The xenomorphs still took it.'

'Only the buildings,' said Lieutenant 'a lot of people are alive because of us.'

'But…' began Swallow 'I don't think the xenomorphs are just going to stop. They're going to come after the other worlds.'

'This is not a defeat,' said Lieutenant 'it is a strategic withdrawal. We've bought time enough for the Confederacy to prepare for a full scale war. We'll bring them to battle on Mar Sara, and we'll stop them there. I promise you.'

'Right,' said Emily. 'I'm… kind of looking forward to it. It'll be Alpha Squadrons finest hour.'

'One can only hope.' said Lieutenant doubtfully.

Personally Lieutenant had the feeling that this was only the beginning of their strategic withdrawal...

* * *

The bridge of the Delta Squadron Flagship was ornate and decadent. It was the sort of place which screamed gentleman and worked well.

Delta Squadron had entered the game late, so General Schezar had resolved that they would be the last off the planets surface. He kept his forces as a second line of defense to cover the militia's retreat should it become necessary. Then he just watched. After a moment he looked to one of his ensigns.

'Charles,' he said 'how close is the xenomorph assault fleet?'

'Hours away sir,' said Charles Howard. 'we… we should make it.'

'Excellent work.' said Schezar 'I'm counting on you all.'

Then he turned away to head to the docking bay. He had some special guests to meet, and find a use for. He found Magistrate Collins getting off the dropship with his family, and nodded to him politely. Collins was carrying in his arms a large filing cabinet. 'Collins, I am Alan Schezar. We spoke earlier over the communications.'

'Yes, I remember.' said Collins, dripping sweat. 'I have the files.'

'Excellent,' said Alan 'I'll make sure they will be put to good use. For now, I think I have a posting for you. Since you have a certain degree of experience with handling these xenomorphs I think it might reassure some fringe colonies if you were there making sure things were workable.

I will, of course, arrange for the transfer of any officers you might choose to get the milita in order. Of course I doubt the creatures will get that far, but if they did you could of course, call upon us for assistance.'

'I appreciate your help, General Schezar.' said Collins.

'Oh the pleasure is all mine.' said Schezar 'Knowing too much is not a pleasant state of existence, and if I may ease your suffering, that is reward in itself. Right this way, I'll show you and your family to your quarters.'

Things were looking up.

* * *

The swarms were victorious. They had lost endless millions in their battles with the Confederate Squadrons, but it didn't matter. The field was theirs. They had won anyway, and their numbers now neared two billions and growing. Tassadar could feel a rush of bloodlust and enthusiasm come from the creatures as he made his way through the halls of the Gantrithor, pausing to nod to a number of warriors.

'Executor,' said a zealot suddenly.

'Yes?' asked Tassadar.

'When will we be deployed?' asked the zealot 'We have been hovering over this world for a month with no orders.'

'The time for battle will come.' Tassadar assured him. 'However for now our purpose is merely observation, and extermination.'

The Executor approached Judicator Aldaris from behind. The Judicator was watching as the last remnants of the terrans flew out over the surface of the world and departed it. Even now they were making ready to depart the system altogether. As the mass exodus continued, yet another flight of xenomorphs came out of warp space, descending upon the world to assist. The swarm soon swept over the remaining pockets of terran civilization, now empty, and reduced them to ashes. Their hives were being established before their eyes even now.

If action was not taken this place would become a powerful bastion for the swarm.

'Judicator Aldaris, our fleets are in position.' said Tassadar 'They have been for some time now. There is nothing left on Chau Sara save the swarm. We must act.'

'Yes, you are correct.' said Aldaris after a moment. 'Begin the bombardment Executor. Wipe this tainted world from the face of the galaxy.'

 _'All units,'_ said Tassadar, sending out a psionic call. _'initiate the purging of Chau Sara.'_

For a moment there was silent. Then the buzz of psionic energy filled the air as suddenly the Protoss vessels appeared into plain sight as the arbiters lowered their cloaking shields. The dozens of Protoss Carriers charged their batteries for a single bombardment of incalculable power. With some satisfaction, Tassadar felt a surge of confusion from the creatures, followed by fear as the beams of light surged down from the Protoss Fleet, crashing into the planets surface.

* * *

Confusion suddenly sprang from the joy of victory as the swarms detected many Protoss Vessels appearing in plain sight over the surface of Chau Sara. Zerglings and hydralisks rallied their forces in preparation for the inevitable assault. Mutalisks soared through the skies, seeking to prepare against an assault by their fighters. Amidst this chaos Zsaz made contact with his brother, Daggoth.

 _'_ _Daggoth, do you sense that? The Protoss are here above Chau Sara.'_

 **'** **Ready the swarms, Zsaz, and prepare to repel the…'** It suddenly dawned on Daggoth that the Protoss were not descending. In fact it looked like they were mustering some kind of powerful psionic blast. And the swarms were all focused on the surface of Chau Sara. They had nothing to defend themselves from the air. **'Nevermind.'**

There was a brilliant white and blue light, and Daggoth died his first death in ages.

There was absolute dead silence from the bridge of the Norad II as the command staff of Alpha Squadron stared. A great white and blue light was washing over the whole of Chau Sara like a wave of pure energy. The creep which had spread over the planet was burned away by it, as everything below them was consumed by its brilliance.

Lieutenant stared at the golden ships, mouth opened wide, unable to comprehend the destructive force which had been displayed before them. The entire Confederate Fleet would be incapable of achieving what whatever stood before them had just achieved in moments.

'What the hell are those things?' he asked as he looked to General Duke.

'Ensign,' said Duke, voice holding panic. 'get us the hell out of here! Now!'

'Reikson is signaling us-'

'Tell him to abandon the planet!' said Duke 'Pull everything out of here now! If he won't listen, you leave him behind! All ships depart the orbit of Chau Sara! Now!'

As the ship turned and prepared to jump to warp space, Lieutenant walked to the edge of the bridge and stared at the craft. Far below the surface of Chau Sara was now glass. The very face of the planet itself had been marred, as craters and trenches were delved into the earth, and whole mountaintops had been shattered. The plant life which terraforming projects had managed to grow had been destroyed utterly, along with the life forms which had been introduced. It was all gone.

His gaze fell upon the golden scarab like ships now floating towards them. And though he knew it was not wise, he reached out with his consciousness and tried to sense the nature of those within. They were not human, he could tell. In that moment he perceived a world he had not known existed, manifesting just below the surface. He saw a brilliant light, as suddenly the gray matter of the physical world was stripped away.

He saw a figure with glowing eyes of brilliant blue, clothed in flowing white. There was a connection there, though he could not understand exactly what it was. He felt as though his every action, his every thought and memory was being judged and found wanting.

'Who are you?' he asked.

There was no answer.

'Sir, its me, Emily Swallow?' asked Swallow 'Are you alright?'

Suddenly he was back on the bridge of the Norad II. Turning to face Swallow he suddenly felt utterly exhausted. He leaned against the railing, he breathed out. 'Yes, I'm fine, its just… nerves I guess.'

'Take command,' said Duke 'I've got to make a report to the High Command.'

Then he turned and walked out in a huff.

* * *

On December 23rd, 2499 after more than a month of vicious fighting, the Confederates abandoned Chau Sara. Even as they did so a Protoss Fleet came into orbit and unleashed a massive planetary bombardment upon the surprised and chaotic ranks of the swarm.

All life on the planet's surface was extinguished.

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

Okay, so we've got the epilogue down. I considered doing a bit more about the Old Families, but I decided I'd save that for later. For now we have {Finally!} blown up Chau Sara. Just for the record, in this fics version the main divergence point is that Liberty joins Alpha Squadron as a war time reporter _before_ Chau Sara gets glassed. As a result he is able to bring public attention to the war, and cause the Confederates to act in a genuinely heroic fashion.

Its rather ironic, I originally included Michael Liberty as an afterthought cameo, even though I wasn't particularly fond of his character. As it turns out, he is perhaps the single most important person in this fanfic. Without him Chau Sara would have been a walk over for the swarm. Instead they have given the Overmind a bloody nose, and caused Tassadar's bombardment to claim the lives of far more zerg than it did in canon.

See the Confederacy more or less wiped out the first wave of zerg in their operations, and the second and third waves. The zerg just kept on coming until they had to retreat. But because the zerg were constantly sending troop surges onto the planets surface, the population of zerg numbered in the billions, rather than the millions.

Anyway, thanks for reading. Its been a fun ride.


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